


Ring Me Up, Cash Me Out

by ThankYouMerlin



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Blow Jobs, Dirty Talk, Fluff, M/M, Rimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 20:01:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 37,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThankYouMerlin/pseuds/ThankYouMerlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“For you, yeah?” Liam grinned, almost shy, as he backed away towards the front door of the store. </p><p>“For me, yeah,” Zayn turned the peanut butter cup between his fingers. “Thanks, <i>Leeyum</i>.” </p><p>Liam blushed as he pushed through the door and left. </p><p>“Well,” Louis said. “If you two are quite finished.”</p><p> </p><p>or, the one where Zayn, Harry, Niall, and Louis work at a convenience store in the town where Liam lives.</p><p>alternately titled: all i wanna do is (gun shot, gun shot, cash register noise) and make you my honey</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ring Me Up, Cash Me Out

**Author's Note:**

> this monstrosity started out because hannah and julia said: "hey, what about an au where zayn works at the store that liam goes into to buy condoms and lube and stuff." so i hope they like where this ended up. 
> 
> this fic wasn't originally intended for casey, but let's be real, all of my 1D fic is secretly for casey. so. for casey. as always.
> 
> thank you to marcel and lauren for beta-ing. you guys are the best.

 

“Thank you, have a nice day,” Zayn ducked his head a bit as he handed Mrs. Calloway her bags. 

“Same to you, dear.” She smiled. “Cheers.” She waved to Harry and Niall as she snagged her son by the shirt collar to drag him away from Louis. 

“Bye, Louis!” little Craig called out as his mother rolled her eyes and pulled him from the store. 

“Bye, Craig!” Louis yelled loudly in return. 

“You don’t need to be so loud, you arsehole,” Niall moaned at Louis where he was leaning over Harry’s cash register. 

Louis just grinned and hopped up on the counter next to Harry’s register. “And you didn’t need to do that many shots last night, but here we are.” 

“Be nice, Lou." Harry smiled, running his hand through Niall’s hair gently. “Poor baby has a hangover.”

“Why do I need to be quiet? It’s not like the two of you are quiet when you’re fucking.” Louis smiled smugly. 

“Line, Louis.” Zayn glared at him. Louis just rolled his eyes and pulled a stupid face making Zayn hide his smile behind his textbook, leaning his chin on his elbow as he sat behind his register. 

Zayn had met Harry first. They’d been roommates their first year of uni. Harry “Undeclared” Styles and Zayn “Literature With An Art Minor” Malik. They’d hit it off about halfway through fall term, when Harry had dragged one Louis “Dramatic Arts and Education Double” Tomlinson into their dorm room to get drunk. Up until Louis, Zayn had been kind of quiet. He kept to himself and yeah, he liked Harry, but he wasn’t sure if Harry liked him. Harry had all these friends and was always getting invited to these loud, ridiculous parties and Zayn was used to just chilling, maybe getting high. 

But Louis. Louis Zayn was sure liked him. Louis was loud and playful and funny. He made Zayn laugh because he was actually funny, not just because he tripped over a piece of furniture that had been there from the start of term. Louis helped Zayn to grow out of his shell (not that Zayn would ever admit that) and because of that, Zayn had gotten closer to Harry and realized that he might have been too quick to judge how Harry felt about him. 

“He never shuts up about you,” Louis had told Zayn the second time they’d hung out. “Zayn this and Zayn that. How great your art is, how you helped him with an essay. If he wasn’t head over heels for that kid in his sociology class, I’d think he had a thing for you.”

That boy in Harry’s sociology class turned out to be Niall “Sound Design With A Music Theory Minor” Horan, who Zayn met one day when he came in after class. Niall was lounging on Harry’s bed, sunglasses on even though they were inside, with a huge smile on his face. 

“You must be Zayn,” Niall had said, accent thick. “ ‘M Niall.” 

Zayn really liked Niall. And, seeing as there wasn’t much Niall didn’t like, Zayn figured Niall liked him too. They hit it off really well, which worked out for the best because the next time Zayn walked in to find Niall on Harry’s bed, it was with Harry on top of him, their mouths pressed together. 

That had been almost two years ago. The four of them lived off-campus in a flat together now. It was the messiest flat in the whole world, Zayn was convinced, but it was home and it was theirs. 

In spring term of last year, Zayn had gotten hired by the convenience store located in the town next to the one where they went to school and had their flat. It was a small store, run and populated by town inhabitants. As time went on, Zayn got all of his flatmates a job at the convenience store. 

Mr. Oliver, the owner of the store, was a nice old man who was more than willing to take on the boys as staff. He was great about working around their class schedule and about scheduling them for the same shifts. It was as close to a dream job as four uni students with rent to pay could get. 

“So, Zayn,” Louis turned his attention back on Zayn and Zayn wanted to groan about how he was trying to study, but he’d already told Louis that multiple times since they'd started their shift. Louis just didn’t care. “What happened to that cute girl you were talking to last night? She had it bad for you.” 

Zayn shrugged. “I have an exam tomorrow.”

Louis and Harry both stared at him blankly. Niall didn’t lift his head, though he moaned in complaint when Harry stilled his hand. 

“Sorry, baby,” Harry murmured and resumed rubbing Niall’s head. 

“You couldn’t get laid…” Louis raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. “Because you have an exam tomorrow?”

“Let it go, Lou,” Zayn pleaded. 

“Because you have,” Louis paused dramatically. “An exam tomorrow.”

“Make him stop, Hazza,” Niall groaned out. 

“Niall, there’s paracetamol in aisle four, just have Harry go get you some,” Louis snipped at him, but he pulled Niall into a cuddle when Harry left to get his boyfriend something to help the hangover. He looked at Zayn over Niall’s head. “An exam?”

“Yes,” Zayn stuck to his story. 

“And this ‘exam’ wouldn’t be some kind of code for _Liam_ , would it?” Louis smiled like he’d won and he kind of had. 

Harry came back then with the medicine for Niall. He put the correct amount of money in the till and handed Niall a few pills to take. 

“Are we talking about Zayn being in love with Liam again?” Harry wanted to know. He rounded on Louis, hands on his hips, voice offended when he asked, “And you were gonna start without me?”

“Never,” Louis swore as Harry hopped up to sit beside him on the counter next to his station. Harry’s station was directly opposite Zayn so now they were both perched up there, looking at Zayn with shit-eating grins on their faces. Louis handed Niall back over to Harry. 

“No, give me back to Louis,” Niall pushed away from Harry. “You’re too warm.”

Harry rolled his eyes but dutifully let Niall out of his arms so that Niall could return to Louis’. Niall laced his fingers with Harry’s so Harry would stop pouting. 

“I’m not in love with Liam,” Zayn protested when Niall finally settled down. 

“Of course you’re not,” Niall snarked from where his face was buried in Louis’ chest. “And I’m not in love with Haz.”

Harry beamed at that, the same way he always did when Niall said he loved him even though Niall said it like, a million times a day. Harry made breakfast, “I love you.” Harry found a pen for him to use in class, “I love you.” Harry got in a row with Zayn about taking his clothes, “I love you.” It would be sickening if Niall wasn’t so earnest every single time. 

“When are you just gonna suck it up and tell him you want to suck him up?” Harry asked. 

They all groaned and Louis punched Harry in the shoulder. “No,” Louis told him firmly.

“I’m probably not even his type,” Zayn told them, not meeting their eyes. For all that he dreaded having to talk or think about Liam, once he started it was all he wanted to do. Which was a problem when he had homework to be doing or a job to be focusing on or when he needed to breathe. 

“Shut up,” Louis rolled his eyes, clearly not in the mood for a maudlin Zayn today. “You’re extremely fit and you know it. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t spend nearly as much time in front of a mirror as you do. And I know for a fact that you’re a great lay, which makes you everyone’s type.”

Zayn and Louis had happened shortly after Niall and Harry got together. The four of them had started hanging out together all the time and then, when Harry and Niall started really dating, it was just Louis and Zayn. They’d been bored (and usually high) and it had seemed like a good enough idea. They’d hooked up a few times, but quit while they were ahead and able to keep any feelings out of it. They were great friends, but they both knew they’d be awful boyfriends to each other. 

“He might not even be interested in guys!” Zayn argued. 

“We’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Harry chimed in. “He definitely likes boys. At the very least he likes _you_.” 

“Speaking of which, isn’t it almost time for him to show up?” Louis asked, checking the time on his mobile. 

“Is it half four already?” Zayn sighed at his textbook, which still had too many pages left to be read for the exam tomorrow. 

“Aha! So you-”

“-Shut up,” Zayn cuts Louis off. “He comes in at the same time every single day, Louis. You know what time he comes in too. That doesn’t prove anything.”

“You’ve got like ten minutes, Zaynie,” Harry grinned as Zayn scowled at the stupid nickname they broke out whenever they were teasing him. “Do you want to run to the break room and freshen up?”

“Do you want to run to the break room and fuck off?” Zayn shot back. 

“We already did that today,” Niall garbled from within Louis’ arms. 

“The fuck you did,” Louis told Niall. “You’ve been way too hungover to get off today. We’ve only been here for an hour and I’ve had you and Harry in my sights the whole time.” 

“Not when you went to get coffee, you didn’t,” Niall smirked up at Louis who pushed him away. Niall simply moved into the V between Harry’s thighs instead. Harry wound his arms around Niall’s neck and grinned at Louis as he rested his chin on the top of Niall’s head. 

“I wasn’t even gone for fifteen minutes!” Louis exclaimed. 

“Harry doesn’t take long,” Niall shrugged at him. 

“Niall,” Harry pulled away, offended. Zayn and Louis laughed while Niall simply buried his face back in Harry’s shirt. 

The front door of the store opened just then, interrupting them.

“Liam!” Louis yelled out a greeting. “How are you on this fine day?”

Liam smiled, big and genuine, eyes crinkling up. “I’m good, Louis, how are you? Everyone alright?” 

“Better now,” Niall told Liam, pulling away from Harry to grin at Liam. 

“What was wrong before?” Liam asked, confusion coloring his face. 

“Niall had a bit too much to drink last night,” Harry explained. “Or, technically, this morning.” 

Liam walked over closer to Zayn’s counter. “And you, Zayn? You alright?” 

Zayn blatantly ignored his three friends where he could still see them over Liam’s shoulder. “I’m alright, yeah.” 

“That’s good. What are you reading?” Liam asked, poking at Zayn’s textbook and smiling. 

“My art history textbook,” Zayn rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t keep the corners of his mouth from turning up. He loved talking about what he was studying, for all he complained about how much work he had to do. And he loved talking to Liam. But that was a different story. “Studying up about some Impressionism.” 

“Sounds interesting,” Liam said. 

“It’s not really,” Zayn made a face at his book. 

Liam waited until Zayn caught his eye again. “It sounds interesting, Zayn. Really.” 

Zayn caught himself grinning but he didn’t try to do anything to stop it. 

“Are you in school?” Louis interrupted suddenly from his perch. 

“Uh, yeah,” Liam shuffled his feet a little and rubbed at the back of his neck. “I’m a Marine Biology Major at the university in the city.”

“University in the city?” Niall asked, turning around to lean his back against Harry’s torso so he could face Liam and Zayn. “What are you doing here then?”

“I live in town,” Liam admitted. “I commute to and from school now because it’s cheaper. This is where I get my chocolate fix when I get home from classes. And then on Saturdays I buy all my other stuff, but you guys know that.” 

“That makes us sound like such creeps,” Harry said thoughtfully, fingers tapping against Niall’s chest. 

“Why the sudden interest?” Liam turned to Louis again. 

Louis shrugged. “You’ve been coming in here for like, three months now. I figured it was time we got to know you a little bit.” 

“Sure,” Liam answered easily enough. “What about you guys? What are you studying?” 

They told Liam what they’re studying along with how they all met. 

“So you live together, work together, and go to school together?” Liam asked, almost incredulous. “That’s sick.” 

“Living the dream,” Zayn deadpanned. 

“Or we would be,” Harry threw in. “If Zayn and Louis would learn how to clean up after themselves.”

“You know what,” Zayn started. 

“You sing at arse o’clock in the morning, Harry Styles, don’t you fucking start,” Louis cut in. 

“It’s not usually morning when I sing!” Harry protested. “It’s not my fault some of you don’t get up when the clock says ‘AM’.”

"Excuse you, I have morning classes this term," Zayn protested. 

“It’s because we’re up all night _studying_ , Harry,” Louis told him. 

“No you’re not,” Niall rolled his eyes. 

“Are you sure you want to get involved, food stealer?” Zayn raised his eyebrows at Niall.

“You know the rule, Zayn. If you don’t label your food, it’s up for grabs.”

“It was in the fucking microwave, Niall, I was in the the middle of cooking it.” 

Niall narrowed his eyes. “It didn’t have a label on it.” 

“At least Niall doesn’t take two hundred years in the bathroom,” Louis jumped in again. 

“Hey!” both Harry and Zayn turned glares on Louis. 

“At least when they do, they do more than just stare at their own arse,” Niall stuck his tongue out at Louis. 

Liam’s laughter broke up their not-argument. They had long ago learned to live with the worst parts of each other. They complained mostly to complain now. If something was ever really bothering them, they would handle it a lot more maturely than this. Or at least Zayn hoped they would. 

“You guys are really funny,” Liam told them. “But are you sure it’s safe for you all to be living under one roof?” 

“Perfectly safe,” Harry assured Liam. 

“As long as you keep Zayn far away from the kitchen,” Niall added. 

"That happened one time," Zayn directed his protests to Liam. "And I was drunk." 

"Probably would have happened if you were sober, too," Harry mused.

"Are we done picking on me now or do you want to break out my baby pictures, too?" 

"And deny your mother the pleasure of showing Liam herself?" Louis put his hand over his heart dramatically. "Never!" 

Zayn blushed at Louis' implication that Liam would ever meet his mum. 

"Oi, Liam though," Niall changed the subject because Niall was a wonderful and marvelous friend."We're hitting up a pub tonight after work. You should come with us. Have a few pints, split a few appetizers, chill."

Niall was a terrible and awful friend.

"Oh." Liam was surprised. "I wouldn't want to impose on you guys or anything."

"Not imposing if we're asking," Niall told him. He batted Harry's hands away from his nipples without breaking eye contact with Liam. 

"We get it if you already have plans or something," Zayn gave Liam an out. 

"No, no plans," Liam responded. "All of my mates stay in the city and there's no one in town really worth making plans with, you know?"

"It's settled then," Louis clapped his hands together. "Meet us back here at eight and we'll go. Now, what kind of chocolate are you going to get today?" 

Another customer came in as Liam was looking over the candy displayed at Zayn's station forcing the other three to pretend to do their jobs. 

"You're sure it's okay if I come out with you guys tonight?" Liam asked Zayn, looking up from underneath his lashes and voice quiet. 

"Of course," Zayn reassured Liam. 

"Okay!" Liam's smile was wide and bright and sincere. Zayn found his own smile trying to mirror Liam's as it stretched across his face. They just stood there grinning at each other for a moment and then Liam blushed and returned to looking at the candy. 

After a moment of deliberation where Zayn tried to stare at anything that wasn't Liam's shoulders (they were so broad), fingers (they were so long where they rested on the counter), or his lips as he chewed thoughtfully on the bottom one (Zayn was so _so_ screwed), Liam placed his chocolate choice in front of Zayn. 

"Good choice," Zayn commented, scanning the barcode on the peanut butter cups Liam had selected. "These are my favorite." 

"Mine too," Liam's smile made the butterflies in Zayn's stomach fly around full force.

Zayn rang up Liam’s peanut butter cups and handed them to him, careful not to brush fingertips as he passed them over. 

"I'll see you tonight then?" Liam asked as he handed over the money for his snack. 

"I guess so, yeah," Zayn answered, dropping Liam's change into his waiting hand. 

"Bye, Zayn," Liam called as he left. Zayn raised up his hand to return the goodbye.

\----

"Come on, Zayn, Liam's gonna be here any minute and I need to use the toilet before we go," Harry whined from outside the loo door.

"I know he's gonna be here soon," Zayn ignored the second half of Harry's complaint. "That's the fucking problem." 

"Why is that a problem? I figured you'd be thrilled he's coming out with us. Give you a chance to get to know him. Maybe even Biblically if you play your cards right."

"No one's gonna want to know me Biblically when my hair looks like this," Zayn pouted and leaned over to unlock the door so Harry could come in. 

"It looks fine, babes," Harry told him, going to stand at the toilet. Their flat only had one bathroom, this was far from the first time one of the boys had wee'd in front of him.

"It does not," Zayn huffed.

"Yeah but you have that whole 'I-don't-give-a-fuck' thing going for you," Harry argued. 

Zayn just sighed and gave his hair one last sorry look before heading back out into the store. Louis and Niall were giving the place one last sweep. They'd already locked everything up, done what little inventory they'd been left to do, and shut off most of the lights. 

"Your hair looks great, bro," Niall told him, not looking up as he straightened a few boxes of cereal.

"Harry texted you from the loo," Zayn accused. 

Niall just shrugged and nodded. 

There was a knock on the front door just then, Liam waving at them through the glass.

"Why don't you go let our Liam in, Zaynie?" Louis called from a couple aisles over. 

"Why don't you go fuck yourself," Zayn muttered under his breath as he made his way to the door. He turned the lock and let Liam in. 

Liam smiled. "Hey." 

He'd changed since he'd left the store earlier. This afternoon he'd been wearing a button up with tan slacks. He wore a similar outfit everyday though the button ups changed colors frequently and sometimes the trousers were black instead of tan. Now though, Liam was wearing a red and white baseball tee that pulled tight across his chest and shoulders and a loose pair of jeans slung very low on his hips. Zayn got a peek at the top of Liam's grey pants when Liam reached up to adjust the Batman snapback he was wearing and his shirt pulled up. 

"Hi," Zayn managed after a few beats had passed. 

"Hello again, Liam Payne," Louis greeted as he came out of an aisle. "You're looking noticeably less sharp than earlier." 

"What?" A confused look crossed Liam's face as he looked down at himself. "Oh! I guess you guys have never really seen me out of my work clothes." 

"Well that's fair because this is the first time you're seeing us out of ours too," Harry chimed in as he came to the front of the store and flipped the last of the light switches, plunging the store into almost complete darkness. 

"Hey!" Niall squawked. 

Harry giggled but made no move to turn the lights back on as his boyfriend emerged from the shelves, a scowl on his face. He looked like a disgruntled puppy though, so no one took his anger seriously, least of all Harry who pulled Niall into an apology kiss. 

"Feckin' muppet." Niall rolled his eyes while stepping away from Harry's kiss. He held out his hand for Harry to take and laced their fingers together. "Alright, we going? I'm starving." 

Zayn picked up his backpack from where he'd left it by the door and followed the boys out of the store, pausing to relock and test the door. When it proved to be firmly locked, he flashed the others a thumbs up and they started off down the street. They headed towards a nearby station that ran a train between where Zayn, Louis, Niall, and Harry lived and Liam's town. 

"You okay with leaving town?" Zayn asked Liam, suddenly realizing they hadn't told him where the pub was earlier. 

"Sure," Liam shrugged. There's no pub in town so I was expecting it really."

"You can always crash at ours if it gets too late or you get too drunk," Niall offered and Zayn mentally took back every nice thing he's ever thought about Niall. 

"I have class in the morning, but thanks," Liam's response was genuine. "And thanks again for inviting me out tonight. Nice break in the boredom." 

"You're welcome out with us any time," Harry told him. 

Louis poked at Liam and added, "Unless you're boring. Then you're never welcome out with us again." 

"Louis..." Harry's tone was scolding but he was interrupted by Liam laughing. 

"I will try my best to be very interesting and not boring," Liam promised Louis and even though he was smiling Zayn noticed a tightness around his eyes, like this wasn't the first time Liam had made this promise. 

“I’m sure you’re very interesting and not boring without even trying,” Zayn told Liam, flicking Louis in the forehead as he passed him to fall into step with Liam. 

“Thanks,” Liam offered Zayn a smile, no tightness around his eyes. 

The train pulled in just then and they all clambered on with Niall chanting “pints pints pints” under his breath.

\----

They were a few shots and a few beers in when Niall decided it was time for karaoke.

“Does this pub even have a karaoke machine?” Liam asked, looking around as if one was just going to magically appear. 

“It does if you’re Niall.” Louis rolled his eyes as Niall left their table and went over to the bar. He spoke to the bartender for a while before she smiled and nodded. Niall hopped over the bar - literally hopped over the bar - and came out of the backroom through a door a few seconds later, a karaoke machine in his arms. 

“Are you kidding me?” Liam was incredulous. “Did that really just happen?” 

Zayn took another sip of his drink. “Everyone loves Niall. Everyone.”

Harry pinched at Zayn’s side until Zayn sighed and added, “But no one loves Niall as much as Harry does. And Niall only really loves Harry. Are you happy?” 

Harry beamed at Zayn before leaving to go join his boyfriend where he was setting up the karaoke machine. 

“They’re disgusting,” Louis commented, watching the two of them get tangled up in wires as they tried to plug things in while kissing. His face was soft and voice fond, though, so they all knew he didn’t mean it. 

“Does the bartender know that Niall’s with Harry?” Liam wanted to know. “I mean, she looked pretty into him.” 

“Everyone knows that Niall’s with Harry. Harry makes sure of that,” Louis told Liam. “But he’s still cute as a goddamn button and gets away with murder.” 

“Check, check,” Niall’s voice carried throughout the pub. It was a Wednesday night so there weren’t many people. A bunch of regulars who were used to Harry, Niall, Louis, and Zayn’s antics by now. “Alright, it’s karaoke time!” 

Louis looked between Liam and Zayn when he thought Zayn wasn’t looking, then politely excused himself to go join Harry and Niall at the karaoke machine, giving Zayn a pointed look when he managed to catch his glance as he left. 

“Do you want to go join them?” Liam asked Zayn, tone polite. 

Zayn shook his head. “It’s too early in the night for me. I need at least two more shots before I join them.” 

“Not a singer, then?” Liam chuckled a little and took a sip of his drink. 

“I sing okay,” Zayn admitted, shrugging. “I’m just not a huge fan of doing it in front of strangers. What about you? Do you sing?”

“Yeah,” Liam told him. “I used to sing a lot, actually. I was thinking about doing it professionally when I was younger, you know? One of those ‘if I could do anything in the whole world’ kind of things. I think I would like to sing.” 

“And you don’t still think about doing it professionally?” 

Liam shrugged, wrapping his hands around his glass. “Not really. I fell in love with Marine Biology and I’m really happy studying that and working at the aquarium in the city. I’m not saying I would turn down a record deal or anything, but it’s not something I’m really going after anymore. Dreams change, ya know?” 

Zayn nodded because he did know. “So what made you fall in love with Marine Biology?” 

Liam chuckled a little as he glanced up at Zayn through his eyelashes. “Promise not to laugh?”

They were interrupted just then by Harry announcing that their first song would be a duet between him and Louis, with Niall on backup vocals. Everyone in pub ignored them except for Liam, who clapped politely. 

“I promise,” Zayn turned back to Liam as his friends started singing something vaguely inappropriate and most likely from the 70’s. 

“I had a pet turtle when I was younger and I loved that turtle,” Liam confessed. “Like, I was in proper love with this turtle. I took him with me to the park and to the cinema - I would hide him under my coat - and on more than one occasion I tried to take him to school with me. He died when I was ten or something and my mom got me another one. That’s when I realized I wasn’t just in proper love with _that_ turtle, I was in proper love with _all_ turtles. As I got older, I realized it wasn’t just turtles. When it came time to pick something to study, I just picked something I loved.”

Zayn just stared at Liam until Liam blushed and looked down at his drink. “What, Zayn?”

“Why would anyone ever laugh at that?” Zayn wanted to know. “That’s a great reason.”

Liam looked up at him and when he saw that Zayn wasn’t taking the piss, a smile blossomed across his face. “Yeah, but. I brought a turtle to the cinema.”

Zayn laughed then and Liam joined in. 

“If you two are quite finished,” Louis’ voice cut into their laughter. “We’re waiting on you.”

“But you were doing such a good job,” Zayn called to him. “We wouldn’t want to mess you up.” 

“I’m gonna mess you up, Malik,” Louis shot back at him. “Come over here and sing with us. Hazza says we can finally do the Spice Girls!”

“Spice Girls?” Liam gave Zayn a puzzled look. 

Zayn rolled his eyes and pushed his chair back, downing the rest of his drink in one go. “Probably because there are five of us tonight so we can all be one of the girls.”

They end up singing two Spice Girls songs and they don’t sound half bad. Zayn’s still humming “Spice Up Your Life” as they wave to Liam as the train pulls away and the four of them head home.

\----

“Zayn,” Niall’s voice is too close and there’s a heavy weight on Zayn’s chest, suggesting Niall is literally on top of him. “Zaynie, wake up.”

“Get the fuck off me, Niall,” Zayn warned him without opening his eyes. 

Niall squirmed around a bit and Zayn doesn’t think he’s ever hated Niall as much as he hates him right now. “No can do, babe. You have to get up. You have an exam today.”

“I don’t wanna,” Zayn complained. 

“I know,” Niall huffed against Zayn’s chin. He rolled off of Zayn’s chest and cuddled into his side instead. “But you have to. You’ve been studying all week for this.” 

“Why did I let you guys talk me into going out last night?” Zayn whined. 

“We didn’t talk you into anything,” Niall answered, refusing to take any blame for this. “Besides, you got to spend quality time with _Leeyum_.” Niall imitated Zayn’s accent over Liam’s name which made Zayn scowl even with his eyes still pressed firmly shut. He’d drank plenty of water before going to bed last night so the hangover was just a small headache right now, but he still didn’t feel like dealing with light just yet. 

“He’s a Marine Biology major because he loves turtles, Niall,” Zayn said, voice almost mournful. “He’s so cute.”

“Is this the point where I should mention that he’s also here?” 

“What do you mean?”

“He’s here. He’s in the kitchen with Haz right now.” 

Zayn opened his eyes and turned to glare at Niall. “He’s where?”

“In the kitchen. I guess Louis texted him this morning to come over after his class if he didn’t have work and Harry would make bacon sandwiches for everyone.”

“I’m gonna kill Louis,” Zayn grumbled. “I’m gonna kill you first and then I’m going after Lou.”

“Why me?” Niall pouted but Zayn was having none of it as he pushed off the covers and started looking for a pair of sweats and a jumper to throw on.

“Because you invited him out last night and he told me about his _turtles_ , Niall,” Zayn explained though he knew he wasn’t making much sense. 

Niall sighed and curled up in Zayn’s bed. He hated mornings almost as much as Zayn. “I don’t know why anyone thinks you’re cool or mysterious or anything. You’re a fucking idiot. And a dork.”

“It’s the tattoos,” Zayn informed him primly. “They make me look dangerous.”

“Oh, right,” Niall drawled sarcastically. “I’m so scared of a guy with a comic book tattoo.” 

Zayn glared at him, but there was no real heat behind it. He sighed and asked, “I don’t suppose there’s any chance of me getting into the bathroom unseen is there?”

“Probably not,” Niall answered fairly. “But you look really hot right now so you should just go for it, I think.” 

“I haven’t even showered,” Zayn made a face. 

Niall gave him a look and then rolled over, burying his face in Zayn’s pillow and pulling Zayn’s blankets over himself. Zayn just sighed and kissed the back of his head before heading out to the kitchen. 

“Morning,” Zayn greeted everyone.

“It’s not morning,” Harry informed him from where he was standing at the stove. 

“I just woke up, it’s morning,” Zayn told him, leaning over to tug on one of his curls. Zayn turned and took a seat at the table. “Hey, Liam.” 

Liam swallowed down a bit of his sandwich before offering Zayn a huge smile. “Hi, Zayn.”

Louis mimed gagging from his spot on the counter behind Liam. Zayn glared at him. 

“Do you want to eat first or shower first?” Harry asked Zayn. “Because if you’re gonna shower, I’m gonna eat this sandwich and I’ll make you one when you get out.”

“I think I’ll shower first, yeah,” Zayn debated internally. “That way I can study while I eat.”

Louis groaned and flopped over sideways on the counter. “No more studying. You know that textbook inside and out.” 

“I really don’t,” Zayn told him as he headed down the hall to get in the shower. 

When he emerged a while later, towel around his waist, scruff slightly more under control, it was to find Liam and Niall seated on the couch playing MarioKart. He could hear Harry and Louis talking and laughing in the kitchen. He snuck into his room undetected. 

He dressed quickly, tugging on the only pair of trousers he owned that even made it look like he had an arse. He went back and forth between his white shirt and his red shirt for a minute, then pulled the red one over his head. Zayn ran his fingers through his hair but couldn’t do much more than that until it dried so he figured that that would have to do. 

“Zayn?” Harry came in without knocking as he was prone to do. 

(“If you’re doing something you don’t want me to see or that you think I don’t want to see, lock your door,” Harry had argued once. “Otherwise, I’m going to just walk in.”)

“‘Sup, Hazza?” 

“Just wondering if you were going to spend a lot more time making yourself look pretty or just a little more time? Because I still have the stove on for your sandwich.”

Zayn rolled his eyes in response to the first part. If he wasn’t careful, his eyes were going to get stuck facing the wrong way one day. “I’ll have a sandwich now, please.” 

“Okay,” Harry went to close Zayn’s door but hesitated. 

“What?” Zayn asked when he noticed Harry was still there. 

Harry looked behind him and then came all the way into the room, shutting the door behind him. “You’re okay with this right? With Liam coming out with us and being here?” 

Zayn blushed furiously but he fought it down valiantly. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“No,” Harry trailed off for a minute, trying to find the words. “I mean like… You fancy him, yeah? And all of the sudden you’re going from seeing him in the store once a day to waking up to him in our flat. I just want to make sure you’re not like, uncomfortable or anything?”

Zayn smiled fondly at Harry. Harry, who was a stupid idiot most of the time and who tripped over his own feet and who told the worst stories in the whole world, but who also had the biggest heart out of anyone Zayn had ever met. “Liam’s a really great guy, Haz. I’m happy to just be his friend.”

“Sure you are,” Harry teased gently. “You just want to be his friend so you can stare at his muscles all day.”

“Leave me alone,” Zayn grumbled but he didn’t mean it. “Go stare at your boyfriend’s muscles or something.” 

Harry winked and opened his mouth, but Zayn leapt across his room and covered it with his hand before Harry could speak. 

“Whatever you were about to say,” Zayn warned. “Don’t fucking say it.” 

Harry licked Zayn’s hand and left the room laughing, as Zayn chased after him trying to wipe his hand off on Harry’s shirt.

\----

Liam came into the shop that afternoon just in time for Niall to hide behind him as Louis came hurtling out of the shelves, water pistol in hand.

“Don’t think I won’t shoot Liam to get to you, Nialler,” Louis warned, taking aim. 

“You’re all talk, Tomlinson,” Niall shot at him from where he was ducked behind Liam still. “You would never shoot poor Liam.” 

“The fuck I wouldn’t,” Louis retorted and then, because Louis was ridiculous and took everything as a challenge even when it clearly _wasn’t_ , Louis let loose a stream of water right at Liam. 

“Louis!” Liam exclaimed but Louis didn’t stop. 

“Surrender Niall and I’ll consider letting you go,” Louis told him. 

Liam glared. “I can’t surrender him because I don’t have him. He’s just using me as a shield.” 

“And you’re doing a great job, mate,” Niall popped his head up to say. 

Liam whirled on Niall, tone authoritative when he said, “Give me that.” Zayn swallowed. 

Niall obediently handed over his own water pistol. Liam turned back to Louis, a smirk on his face. “Now you’re gonna get it.” He opened fire on Louis, chasing him down an aisle. 

“Please don’t break anything!” Zayn called after them but he knew it was useless. 

Harry was laughing wildly as Niall came over and shook his hair out at him. He pulled Niall into a quick kiss and told him to go towel off in the breakroom while Louis was still distracted. 

“You son of a -” They heard Louis’ voice ring out as Niall headed off. 

“Don’t touch me, Louis, I mean it!” Liam’s voice answered. 

Zayn couldn’t help the soft smile that crossed his face when he thought about how well Liam fit in with all of them. It was like something had just… clicked. Like Liam was a missing piece to a puzzle they hadn’t known they were putting together that had suddenly been found. 

“Zaynnnnnnnn,” Liam reappeared from the aisles and came to duck behind Zayn’s counter. “Protect me!” 

“Don’t get me involved, Liam,” Zayn told him sternly, but he was chuckling just a little bit. 

“He’s your friend!” Liam argued, pouting. “Make him stop.”

Zayn sighed and turned his attention to where Louis had just come back into view of the check out counters. 

“Are you hiding him, Malik? Didn’t take you for a traitor,” Louis held his gun at his hip like this was some American Western Drama. Zayn half-expected a tumbleweed to blow by. 

“He’s hiding, I’ve nothing to do with this,” Zayn echoed Liam’s argument from earlier. However, he meant it. He was not getting involved. He loved a good water fight as much as the next guy, but he didn’t like being up against Louis because Louis was vicious when victory was on the line. It was Louis’ team or no team as far as Zayn was concerned. 

“Can we call a truce?” Liam asked from the floor. His shoulder pressed up to Zayn’s leg as he knelt up to peek over the counter. 

“Never,” Louis responded without hesitation. 

“Lou, come on,” Zayn said. “Let it go. You’ve already been at this for like, an hour.” 

“Yeah, with Niall,” Louis told him. “Now I have a Liam.” 

“You’re gonna have to make your own breakfast if you don’t stop,” Harry threw in from where he was texting instead of actually paying attention. 

Louis appeared to debate that for a moment, then decided that having to make his own waffles was worse than squirting Liam with a water pistol. “Fine. Truce.” 

“Thank you,” Liam’s voice was relieved as he stood. Zayn was suddenly aware of just how close Liam was to him. Liam smelled really good, a mixture of spice and something fruity. Zayn wasn’t sure that combination of scents would have worked for anyone else but they worked wonders for Liam. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Liam had come in in a white button down today. A white button down Louis had spent the last ten minutes spraying with water. It was more see-through than shirt at this point, clinging to Liam’s _fantastic_ body. 

It had taken Zayn a moment to process all of that, so he didn’t realize that Liam had been directing his thanks to Zayn, not Louis. 

“What?” Zayn responded and he immediately felt stupid. “Why are you thanking me? It was Harry that got him to stop.” 

“Yeah, but you let me hide behind your counter,” Liam laughed. He clapped Zayn on the shoulder before moving away. 

Louis disappeared to towel himself off in the break room just as Niall re-emerged, planting a loud kiss on Harry and exclaiming “my hero!” when he found out that it was Harry who had finally put a stop to Louis. Zayn was pretty sure Louis and Niall had been watching too many American Westerns. 

“Didn’t really have much of a choice, did I?” Zayn asked Liam, going for cheeky. “You just hopped back here like you owned the place.” 

“I was being attacked!” Liam argued, placing a hand over his heart. “I needed somewhere safe to hide!” 

“And you thought my counter would be that place?”

Liam just grinned at him and stepped out from behind the counter to hand Niall his water pistol. He turned his focus on the candy display then, tapping his chin thoughtfully before he picked out his chocolate for the day.

\----

“So,” Niall started when they were all sitting around their kitchen table, take away boxes piled in the middle. “Zayn, when are you going to ask Liam out?”

“I’m not doing anything until I have some dinner,” Zayn deflected. “I’m starving.” 

“Don’t deflect,” Harry chided, sliding an egg roll onto Zayn’s plate before Niall could get to them. 

“I’m not deflecting,” Zayn argued, pouting at his friends as they all gave him a rather unimpressed look. 

“Sure you’re not,” Harry rolled his eyes as he filled his own plate. 

“How did your exam go, by the way?” Louis asked, changing the subject. 

Zayn shot him a grateful look and answered, “Pretty good, I think. Like, it was alright.” 

“Which means you aced it,” Louis smacked at Harry’s hand as he reached for an extra helping of rice. “Knock it off, Curly, I haven’t had any yet.” 

Niall’s phone beeped just then. 

“You know the rules, Nialler,” Louis glared at him. “Dinner time is family time, no phones.” 

“It’s Liam,” Niall held up the phone to show Louis the screen. “He’s just getting on the train from work. Do you want me to tell him to swing by? Grab some dinner?” 

All of them looked at Zayn. 

“Why the fuck are you looking at me?” 

“Are you okay with Liam coming over for dinner?” Niall asked, speaking slowly like Zayn was stupid. 

“You’re all aware that I like Liam, right?” Zayn demanded. “Like, I think he’s a cool dude.” 

“I’ll tell him to stop by then,” Niall grinned and sent Liam a text. 

Twenty minutes later, Harry was sitting on Niall’s lap as he offered his chair to Liam. Liam tried to tell him that he would stand or something, but Niall shot him a look and hooked his arms around Harry’s middle, nuzzling into Harry’s back, and Liam just sighed and sat in the vacant chair. 

“Three times in one day,” Louis commented, smiling. “Not sick of us yet?” 

Liam blushed and put a few things on his plate. Harry stared at him until he filled his plate all the way. “No. You guys are funny. And nice. What’s to be sick of?”

“Stop complimenting us,” Zayn groaned. “Louis’ gonna get a big head.” 

“Bigger than it already is,” Harry added. 

“Watch yourself, _Hairy_. Your hair is much bigger than my head could ever get.” Louis raised his eyebrows at Harry. Harry let out a burst of laughter and Louis’ face melted into a fond smile. 

“Oh, Zayn,” Liam cut in after he’d swallowed down some food. “How did your exam go today?”

“He smashed it, didn’t he?” Niall leaned over to squeeze Zayn’s cheek. Zayn hit his hand away and glared at him. Niall at least had the decency to pretend to look sheepish. 

“It went alright,” Zayn told Liam. 

“I’m sure you did great,” Liam smiled at Zayn. Zayn smiled back, but quickly turned a glare on Harry when he felt Harry kick him under the table. 

“Are you hanging out after dinner or are you going home?” Niall asked. 

Liam’s eyes widened and he shifted and Zayn recognized that, he recognized the fear of imposing. Of not knowing whether was someone was offering out of pity or because they genuinely liked you.

“You’re more than welcome to stay,” Zayn told him. 

“Are you sure?” Liam’s voice sounded relieved. 

“Of course we’re sure,” Louis tilted his head at Liam like he was confused. “We like you.”

“Oh,” Liam flushed and looked down at his lap, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth. 

While the other three were distracted with a food fight Louis had started with Niall, Zayn reached across the table and put his hand over one of Liam’s. Liam looked up, surprised, but Zayn just smiled reassuringly. 

“We like you,” Zayn murmured, just for Liam because Zayn remembers how badly he had needed to hear that once. Said softly and surely. 

Liam positively _beamed_ at Zayn at that and Zayn let go of Liam’s hand so Liam could keep eating. 

When Zayn turned back to the others, Louis was watching him with a knowing smile. Harry and Niall had dissolved into giggles and kisses.

\----

And the thing was, Liam was a great guy. Besides being really attractive and polite and sincere, Liam was funny and sweet and all around wonderful. He went to hipster coffee shops with Harry (“Bless you, mate,” Niall had breathed out a sigh of relief when Liam said he would go with Harry the first time. “I bloody hate the coffee shops he goes to. The menus aren’t in English half the time.”) He played football with Louis (“I’m not very good,” Liam had confessed to Louis the first time he had gotten asked to play. Louis had sized him up before answering, “You can’t be any worse than these idiots. Let’s see what you’ve got.” And Liam had been so much better than any of them were.) He went to campus parties as Niall’s plus one (“You’re tall, you’ll be easy to find,” Niall shrugged, ignoring Harry’s protests that he was tall too, thank you very much.)

The bottom line was that Liam was great. Greater than Zayn could have ever hoped for when Liam first walked into their store three months ago. And that greatness was going to get Zayn in trouble. 

At least when Liam had just been coming into the store, when their interactions had been no more than a few minutes each day, Zayn’s crush could be written off as silly. But now. Well. 

It was worse now that Zayn could touch. Now that Liam spent more time at their flat than at his own home. Now that Liam came out with them almost every Wednesday night. Now that Liam was a part of their group. Zayn’s stupid crush on the boy who came into the shop had turned into a very real crush on _Liam_. Stupid, funny, endearingly sweet Liam. 

Who Zayn was going to murder. 

“Zayn,” Liam’s voice was close. “Wake up, Zayn, come on.” 

“What the fuck are you doing in my flat, Payne?” Zayn didn’t move where he was curled up in his bed. 

Liam chuckled, shaking the bed from where he was lying on the side not currently occupied by Zayn. “I’m always in your flat.” 

“Not in the mornings,” Zayn pointed out to him. 

“Yeah, but there’s a film I want to see and I want you to come with me,” Liam told him and Zayn could hear the pout in his voice. 

“Why don’t you ask Louis?” Zayn asked, glad that his eyes were closed so Liam couldn’t see the hope there. 

“I don’t want to go with Louis,” Liam poked at Zayn’s back. “I want to go with you. Come with me.” 

Zayn felt his breathing stutter and prayed that Liam couldn’t. 

It was just that sometimes Liam came out with these things -- said these things or touched Zayn or laughed harder at one of Zayn’s jokes than the other boys -- and it was making it very difficult for Zayn to get rid of his crush. 

He was fine with just being Liam’s friend, he _was_. But when Liam said stuff like that or bought an extra pack of peanut butter cups at the store just to hand them over to Zayn… Well. It was just hard to not want to be more than friends with Liam. Gorgeous fantastic Liam who was now tugging at Zayn’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to roll over. 

“Liam, it’s Sunday. I sleep in on Sundays,” Zayn informed him as he rolled over to face him finally. 

“You sleep in everyday,” Liam retorted. 

“Yes, but Sunday is for sleeping off hangovers,” Zayn was pouting now, giving Liam his best puppy dog eyes. 

“You didn’t even drink that much last night,” Liam scoffed at him. “We stayed in and drank shitty beer and played video games.” 

Zayn scowled. “I’m a lightweight.” 

Liam thought for a second, rolling onto his side so he and Zayn were face to face. “That might be true, but not even you are lightweight enough to have a hangover from last night.” 

“I hate you,” Zayn said, but he didn’t mean it. 

“I know,” Liam just grinned at him. “Now come on, get dressed. Let’s go watch a film, yeah?”

Zayn studied Liam for a moment, eyes lingering on Liam’s lips for just a few seconds more than probably strictly necessary. He sighed heavily, Liam scrunched up his face at Zayn’s morning breath. Zayn laughed and then said, “Yeah. Let’s go watch a film.” 

Liam smiled, big and all for Zayn, before leaping out of Zayn’s bed saying, “I’ll let you get dressed then. Do you want me to heat up leftovers before we go?” 

“Yes,” Zayn said, still lying in bed. 

Liam’s smile turned soft as he went to pull the door shut behind him and he glanced one more time over his shoulder at Zayn. He closed the door and then shouted, “If you’re not out here in ten minutes, I’m coming back in with a bucket of ice water and Louis! I mean it, Zayn.” 

Zayn laughed and pulled the blankets over his head. He was in way too deep.

\----

“I’m in way too deep,” Zayn confessed to Louis, Harry, and Niall later that night. He and Liam had gone to the movie and it had been two hours of arms brushing and exchanging smiles. Zayn could not for the life of him remember what the movie had been about, only that it had made Liam laugh until his eyes crinkled up and that he had sat on the very edge of his seat (the actual edge of his seat) for the last fifteen minutes of the film.

“How do you mean?” Harry asked while Niall and Louis steadfastly ignored him and continued typing away at their laptops. Zayn knew Louis had a paper due tomorrow, but he was pretty sure Niall was just dicking around. 

"With Liam," Zayn clarified. "I'm in way too deep with Liam."

"No, you wish Liam was too deep in you," Niall quipped and Louis high fived him without looking away from his computer screen. 

"Shut up," Zayn snapped. "I don't know what to do. Do you know where we went this morning?"

"You went somewhere in the morning?" Louis asked, finally looking up. "Somewhere without an attendance requirement?" 

Zayn nodded. "Liam wanted to see a film and he wanted me to go with him."

"Like a date?" Louis pushed. 

"No," Zayn shook his head. "I don't think so, like. We each paid for our own tickets and snacks and stuff. And we actually watched the movie." Liam had, at least. Zayn didn't think he needed to mention that he hadn't because he'd been watching Liam. He knew better than to get mushy around his boys because they'd never let him live it down. 

"Did you want it to be a date?" Harry asked. 

"I don't know," Zayn groaned, letting his head thump back against the chair he was sitting in. Harry, Niall, and Louis were all on the couch, Niall under Harry's arm as he worked. Shortly after moving in together Zayn had bought the chair he was sitting in now and forbid any of them from ever sitting in it. Zayn claimed it was his personal space and they were to respect that. It had lasted for a week, which was six days and twenty-three hours longer than Zayn thought it would. "He's just great, you know?" 

"Yes, we know," Niall rolled his eyes. "We're his friends too." 

Zayn pouted and Niall sighed, placing his laptop on Harry's knees and disappearing into the kitchen. 

"What are you doing?" Zayn called after him. 

"Making us tea," Niall answered. "If we're going to talk about our feelings, I'm doing it with a cuppa. Plus, it's nearly eight and that's Lou's tea time." 

"I fucking love you, Niall Horan," Louis yelled. "I'm going to steal you away from Harry because he doesn't deserve you and your tea making prowess." 

"Your tea is still better," Niall argued while Harry frowned at Louis. 

"I know that," Louis scoffed. "But yours is a close second." 

"I thought my tea was a close second," Harry said to Louis. 

Louis reached over and rumpled Harry's hair. "It is. Your tea is actually my favorite - after my own, of course - but you're not the one putting the kettle on right now."

"You're emotionally manipulative," Harry told him, like he was just realizing it. 

"Yes," Louis agreed. "But the love is real."

Harry rolled his eyes but then tipped sideways, Louis lifting up his computer so that Harry could rest his head in Louis' lap. Louis set his computer aside and went about patting Harry's hair. 

Niall came back in a few minutes later with mugs of tea balanced in his hands, passing them out with practiced ease. Harry was still sprawled out along the whole couch, so Niall came and sat on the arm of Zayn's chair, Zayn leaning so that he was tucked against Niall's side. 

"So what are you going to do about Liam?" Niall asked, free hand coming up to scratch at the short hairs on the back of Zayn's neck. 

"I don't know," Zayn whined. 

"You're a right bitch when you're in love," Harry told Zayn. 

"Why am I friends with any of you?" Zayn demanded to the room at large. 

"Look," Louis turned his Very Serious face on Zayn. "You like Liam. You want to kiss his face and lick his abs and have his babies. All you have to do is tell him. Just man up and tell him that you want to date him or sleep with him or whatever." 

"It's not that easy," Zayn complained. 

"Yes it is," Niall chimed in. "Worked for Haz." 

Harry sat up on the couch to beam at Niall. "Speaking of wanting to sleep with someone..." 

"Yeah, alright," Niall agreed, standing up. 

"Don't make it sound like a chore," Harry chastised as they made their way to their shared room. 

Louis turned the TV on and blasted the volume while simultaneously patting the empty couch cushion next to him. Zayn got up and moved over to the couch, curling into Louis' side. 

"It'll all work out, yeah?" Louis whispered, kissing the top of Zayn's head. 

"Maybe," was all Zayn answered. 

They stayed like that until they were sure Niall and Harry were done and then they shut off the TV and both went into their own rooms to finish their homework for the next day.

\----

Zayn was feeling dead on his feet by the time Liam came into work that Monday.

"You look wrecked, mate," Liam told him. And, oh God, what Zayn wouldn't give for him to mean that in a different way. 

"Zayn has morning classes on Monday. Though I still use the term morning loosely," Harry explained. 

Zayn shot a finger gun at Harry and said, "Got it in one." 

Harry rolled his eyes and checked his mobile. "Anyone mind if I skip out for a mo and snog my boyfriend?"

"Do whatever you want," Zayn told him. Louis was somewhere in the shelves doing inventory for cold medicine or something while Niall took his break. There was no one but Liam in the store and they knew from routine there probably wouldn't be anyone else for a while. 

Harry flashed him a grin before disappearing in the direction of the back room. 

"So," Liam hopped up onto Zayn's counter. "Just you and me then." 

"Sorry," Zayn apologized without sincerity. 

"Don't be," Liam answered. "I like when it's just you and me." 

Liam's honesty startled Zayn into some of his own. "I like it too. When it's just you and me, I mean." 

"I knew what you meant," Liam assured him, smiling. "How are your classes going?" 

"They're fine," Zayn shrugged, trying to avoid thinking about all the homework he had to do before class on Wednesday. "A lot of work, but I like it so I don't mind." 

"Why did you pick Literature for a major?" Liam asked. When Zayn made a face Liam tagged on with, "I showed you mine, now show me yours." 

"That was over a month ago, you can't still use that," Zayn argued. 

"Of course I can," Liam responded simply and well. 

"I don't know," Zayn told him, pulling the sleeves of his jumper over his hands. He was pretty sure it was Harry's or Niall's based on the way he was practically swimming in it. "I've always been good at it. I guess I just like the idea of things meaning something, even if you can't tell what they mean right away. Like, just one word means so much in literature. I like the idea of something carrying so much power but like, secretly."

Liam was smiling softly at him when Zayn looked up at him again. "You are something, Zayn Malik." 

"You're not so bad yourself, Liam Payne." 

"What about the Art minor?" Liam questioned. 

Zayn shrugged. "I've always liked art too, I guess. I'm not anything special, but I like it. When I got to uni it just seemed like the right thing to do." 

"Sounds good to me," Liam told him. "Did you design any of your tattoos?" 

"Yeah, a few," Zayn admitted. "Some of the smaller ones. I did the rough sketch for a lot of them, but I let the artist kind of just run with it when I actually got them." 

"That's cool," Liam said. "Maybe you can design a tattoo for me one day."

"Maybe, yeah," Zayn answered, ducking his head just a bit. "That'd be cool, yeah." 

They sat there for a minute, kind of smiling at each other, then Liam reached over and plopped two packages of peanut butter cups in front of Zayn. "Just these please."

"Liam," Zayn huffed, scanning in the chocolate. "Stop buying me candy."

"I like buying you candy," Liam said, almost indignantly. "It's like I'm paying rent for all the time I spend at your flat." 

"We should just have you a key made and put your name on the lease, honestly," Zayn joked as Liam handed him some notes. 

"I'll move into your room, you can sleep on the couch," Liam teased. 

"It's a very comfortable couch," Zayn retorted. 

Liam gave him a look as he opened his candy. "No it isn't." 

"No, it isn't," Zayn agreed laughing. 

"Don't make me eat alone," Liam pouted, a peanut butter cup halfway to his lips. 

"I'm on the clock, Liam, I can't be eating sweets," Zayn argued, already opening the package Liam had just purchased for him. 

"Niall and Harry are doing God knows what in the breakroom," Liam returned, nose scrunching up. "I think you'll be okay if you have a few bites of chocolate."

Zayn smiled at him and popped a peanut butter cup in his mouth whole. 

"You're eating them wrong," Liam scolded like he did every single time Zayn ate peanut butter cups in front of him. 

"Maybe you're eating them wrong," Zayn challenged as Liam bit his peanut butter cup, splitting it into two parts. 

Liam stuck out his tongue, a repulsive mix of chocolate and peanut butter on display. 

"You're disgusting, mate," Zayn groaned. 

Liam just grinned and they finished their peanut butter cups together.

\----

Zayn: _are you busy tonight?_

Liam: nooooooo y

Zayn: _the lads and i were gonna play some laser tag, were wondering if you wanted to come_

Liam: _sounds fun. wat time?_

Zayn: _8? meet us at the store._

Liam: _coooooool. c u_

\----

It was ten to eight when Liam walked into the store.

"Sup, Payno?" Niall greeted him.

"Hey, Nialler," Liam pulled Niall into a headlock, ruffling his hair. "Almost time to dye it again, yeah?"

Niall pulled away from Liam, running his hands through his hair and tugging at the roots where the brown was starting to show through. "Pretty soon, yeah. I kind of like the two color thing though. Makes me look cool."

"It's hot," Harry told him from where he was locking up his till. 

"You're hot," Niall returned, going over to kiss at Harry's jawline. 

"Can you guys not?" Louis groaned from where he was sitting on Zayn's counter. They'd already closed up pretty much everything else. They just had to flip the last light off and then lock the door. Every day was a pretty slow day at the store (it was in a small town with a shopping supercenter only a few miles away; it was more for just picking up small things or things needed in a pinch), but Fridays were always especially slow. 

"We haven't done anything all day," Harry protested as Niall kissed down his neck. 

"You got off in the shower together this morning," Zayn made a face at them.

"That was at home, this is at work," Niall pulled away long enough to inform them. They started snogging in earnest and Louis and Zayn rolled their eyes. 

"How were your classes today, Liam?" Louis asked. 

"They were good," Liam brightened. "And at work they actually let me start working with some of the exhibits. It's just penguins for now, but I like penguins." 

"We'll have to come into the city and visit you at work one of these days," Zayn said. "You can give us the grand tour and teach us all about the terrifying creatures that live in the ocean." 

"They're not terrifying," Liam frowned. "Most of them are extremely gentle."

Louis smacked Zayn upside the head. "Don't listen to Maudlin Malik. He just thinks they're terrifying because he's scared of the water, aren't you, Zaynie?"

Zayn glared. "First of all, I taught you that word. Second of all, don't call me Zaynie. And third of all, I am not _scared_ of the water." 

"No, you just can't swim," Louis countered. 

"You can't swim?" Liam questioned. 

Zayn turned red. "No. Never learned." 

"I used to be a lifeguard," Liam offered because of _course_ he used to be a lifeguard. Zayn had to bite his lip to keep from groaning out loud. "I could teach you." 

"It's December, Liam. Not a whole lot of places to go swimming this time of year," Zayn pointed out. 

"So when it gets warmer," Liam shrugged. "If you guys aren't sick of me by then."

"Never gonna be sick of you," Harry came up behind Liam and threw his arms around Liam's shoulder and Zayn wished it were that easy for him. He wished that he could just touch Liam and not have it mean anything, not have it feel like he'd been shocked by static electricity at every point of contact. "Are we ready to go?"

They shut off the last of the lights and locked up the front door. They chatted amicably on their way to the train station and laughed the whole way to the Laser Tag place. It was empty. 

"It's a Friday night, where is everyone?" Liam asked. 

"Niall knows the owner," Harry answered. "So we always get a few hours to ourselves every few weeks or so.

"Horan!" a voice called out as they walked towards the front desk. 

"Josh fucking Devine!" Niall shouted out in response. "How've you been?"

"I've been good, mate," Josh came out from behind the counter and pulled Niall into one of those hugs where they clasped hands and chest bumped and patted each other on the back all at the same time. Niall had been the one to help Zayn master that spring term during their first year at uni. "Harry, nice to see you. Louis, Zayn, and... Sorry. You're new?"

"I'm Liam," Liam held out his hand for Josh to shake. "Liam Payne."

"Oh, so you're Liam," Josh said, shaking Liam's hand firmly. "Heard a lot about you, bro." 

"All good things, I hope," Liam laughed. 

"Never," Louis cut in sharply. "We only speak ill of you actually." 

Liam reached out to try and pinch Louis, but Louis ducked behind Niall, giving Liam a decidedly unimpressed face as he did. 

"Alright, lads, how do you want to split up the teams seeing as we have Mr. Payne here with us this time?" Josh asked, going behind the desk and typing something into the computer. 

"Zayn will be on Louis' team, like always." Harry answered, rolling his eyes. Zayn wrapped his arms around Louis' shoulders and touched their temples together, a habit he'd picked up when they were sleeping together that he'd never really lost. "And me and Niall, obviously. So that just leaves you and Liam."

"Josh can be on our team this time," Niall decided. "Louis and Zayn had him last time." 

"We'll take Liam then," Zayn said, smiling at Liam. "Or do you want him as well as Josh? Maybe then you'd finally have a chance at winning."

"Fuck off," Niall retorted, flipping Zayn off for good measure. Zayn just leaned over and knocked his knuckles against the brim of Niall's snapback. 

"Alright," Josh said, finishing typing their information into the computer. "We're good to go. Zayn, Louis, Liam, you guys are red. We'll be blue." 

"Sick, mate, let's do it!" Louis cheered. They all made their way into the room that had the vests and guns they'd be using. "Now, Liam. I know you like to act all nice and polite, but this is not the place for that. Laser tag is a brutal, brutal game and Zayn and I are undefeated. You wouldn't want to be responsible for ruining that record, now would you?"

"Lay off, Lou," Zayn warned. 

Liam, on the other hand, shook his head solemnly. "Of course I wouldn't. I won't let you down, Captain Tomlinson."

"Piss off," Louis shot him a sarcastic but fond smile. Zayn wanted to poke at Louis' cheek and chant "your fault" at him, but he knew it wouldn't go over well. Louis had been trying to corrupt Liam since he came out with them that first night. He thought Liam was too earnest all the time and was determined to make him a bit feistier. It had worked, but Zayn was pretty sure Louis regretted just how well it had worked whenever Liam turned it back on him. 

"Are you going to trash talk your own teammates or are we going to play?" Harry demanded, already suited up and leaning against a wall.

"We're going to play," Louis told him firmly as he snapped the last part of his vest into place. He stalked past Harry towards the door that led to the room where they would play. "And just a friendly reminder, Styles? Life is not a photoshoot." 

Harry smirked as he followed Louis to where Josh was punching a number into the keypad by the door. 

"Okay," Josh started and everyone but Liam groaned. "Oh piss off, I have to give the safety speech for insurance reasons and you know it." 

"We're not going to sue you, Josh," Zayn told him. 

"I'm not taking any chances," Josh answered. "Please keep in mind that the lighting is low inside of the arena and it will be difficult to see. Watch your step and head at all times. There are emergency buttons placed along the walls of the arena that will stop the game and turn the lights on. If at any point you want to quit the game and cannot make it back to this door, simply find a wall and follow it until you find an emergency button. 

"There are sensors on both the front and back of your chests and well as on your shoulders, front and back. Your gun has a sensor on either side. If any of these sensors are hit, you will be rendered unable to shoot for thirty seconds, though that does not mean you cannot get shot at. Each sensor is worth points, as well as the targets that have been placed around the arena If you get hit five times, you are out and must exit the arena. The team with the most points at the end wins. If you get hurt or injured at any time, please either hit the emergency button or bloody tell me when we finish the game so I can file paperwork if I have to."

"Have you quite finished?" Louis asked. 

"I have, thank you," Josh responded. "And I can't wait to kick your arse."

"In your wildest dreams, maybe," Louis shot back. 

"I'll kick your arse there, too," Josh informed him. 

Louis batted his eyelashes at Josh and asked, "Are you telling me you have dreams about my arse? No one would blame you, it is a very nice bum."

"Shut up, Tommo," Josh sighed, exasperated. "Let's fucking do this, yeah?"

They all whooped then and Josh flung the door open and they all raced into the laser tag arena. 

"We have about a minute to hide or split up or whatever," Zayn explained to Liam as the door swung shut behind them. "Then we'll hear like beeping and shit and then it's game time."

"Got it," Liam said. "Do you mind if I stick close to you? At least until I kind of get an idea of what it's like?"

"Don't slow him down," Louis warned as he raced by. 

Zayn grinned at Liam, just a sharp flash of white in the dim room and motioned for Liam to follow him. 

Liam stuck close to Zayn and Zayn weaved his way through the course that was set up to make the game more challenging. Zayn could feel the heat of Liam's chest pressed against his back and it was... distracting, to say the least. 

Zayn pulled Liam into a small crevice and motioned for him to be silent. Liam burst out in giggles at Zayn's serious expression. 

" _Leeyum_ ," Zayn whined at him. "You have to be quiet."

"We haven't even started yet," Liam protested. 

"That doesn't mean no one can hear us," Zayn informed him primly. 

Liam rolled his eyes and started laughing again as Zayn furrowed his brows at him. He stopped laughing, however, when Zayn put his hand firmly over Liam's mouth to muffle the sounds. 

Liam's eyes widened as they met Zayn's. Liam's breath was warm against Zayn's palm where it was pressed against Liam's lips and Zayn felt it when Liam's breathing hitched in his chest and came out short. Zayn's eyes were the ones widening now as he lowered his hand. Liam's eyes dropped to Zayn's lips and Zayn stiffened, tongue coming out to lick his lips against his will. Liam made a low sound in the back of his throat. 

They were interrupted by the sound of the buzzer announcing the start of the game. 

"Now what?" Liam asked, voice hushed and face close. 

_We quit this stupid game and you stick your tongue down my throat_ , Zayn thought bitterly to himself. Out loud, he answered, "We have two choices. We can venture out and try to hunt them down, or we can stay here and wait for them to try and find us." 

"Let's go out. It'll be more fun that way!" Liam exclaimed. Zayn wanted to pull his hair out. No, actually, he wanted Liam to pull his hair. 

"Fine," Zayn agreed. "Let's go." 

They crept out of their hiding spot, looking around carefully for any sign of Niall, Josh, or Harry. They could hear shouting coming from somewhere in the arena, but they couldn't tell whose it was. 

"Freeze, motherfuckers," Niall had adopted an American accent. They both whirled around to see Niall standing there, his laser gun aimed at them. 

"Fuck off, Nialler," Zayn yelled to him before he grabbed Liam's hand and started them running.

\----

"That was so much fun!" Liam exclaimed as they left laser tag later that night. There was a small pub close by that they usually went to after playing where they could get food and alcohol.

"You're just saying that because you won," Niall grumbled at him. Niall hated losing; he couldn't even be soothed by Harry pressing kisses to the side of his face. 

"Not my fault you picked the losing team," Liam teased. 

"I didn't _pick_ anything," Niall glared at Louis and Zayn. 

Louis grinned in response and explained for Liam's benefit. "The first time we played it was me and Harry versus Niall, Zayn, and Josh and it came down to Niall and Harry. They each had one hit left, but they refused to shoot each other because Harry knows how much Niall likes to win and Niall doesn't like when Harry pouts at him. So we had to call it a draw. We make them play on the same team now."

"That's..." Liam paused. "That's actually really adorable." 

"Thank you, Liam." Niall smiled at him, reaching out to pull Harry closer even though they were already walking on top of each other. 

"Now you've done it," Louis scolded as Harry threw his head back and laughed at something Niall whispered to him. 

"Oops," Liam said, but he didn't sound very apologetic. 

Louis caught up with Josh then, asking him if he'd caught the football match that had been on last night. 

"I'm really glad you guys invited me out that first night," Liam told Zayn when they were alone. They fell into step with each other and behind everyone else. "You guys are great." 

"Yeah, yeah." Zayn smirked at him. "But don't tell Lou or Hazza. It'll go straight to their heads." 

"What about you? Not going to your head?" Liam asked, chuckling. 

"Nah," Zayn answered. "I already know I'm the greatest. My ego is already as big as it can get." 

"I don't think that's true," Liam told him, raising his eyebrows skeptically and making Zayn laugh. "But yeah, you are the greatest." 

Zayn flushed and Liam looked away like he could tell and he didn't want to make Zayn more embarrassed by calling attention to it. The words formed on the tip of Zayn's tongue as the kept walking, pressed close together in silence now. _When we were hiding... What was that?_ He wants so badly to say those words to Liam, to stop him in the middle of the sidewalk and demand some answers. Because up until now, Zayn had been pretty sure his crush was one sided, but if Liam felt the same... Well, that changed everything. 

They reached the pub before Zayn had the courage to spit out the words. 

"You guys go in, I'm gonna stay out here and grab a smoke," Zayn told them. It was cold, so everyone but Louis just nodded and ducked inside. 

"I'll stay out here with you," Louis told Zayn, coming to lean against the wall beside him.

"Lou, no," Zayn protested. "It's freezing. Go inside and get warm." 

"Nah, I'd rather be out here with you," Louis said and the worst part is that Zayn knows it's the truth. And he knows that he would do the same for Louis, too, if he could tell that Louis was as stuck inside his own head the way Zayn was. "Reminds me of the good old days when I used to smoke more and bitch less."

"I like your bitching," Zayn nudged Louis' shoulder with his own. 

"Liar," Louis scoffed at him and Zayn shrugged, giving up the game. Louis rolled his eyes as Zayn pulled out a fag and lit it. "Do you want to talk about Liam?"

Zayn shrugged again, turning his face so that Louis couldn't see it. 

"Come on, Zaynie," Louis coaxed, but the nickname wasn't said in jest this time. Louis was being serious. "What's up?"

Zayn took a drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke before telling Louis. "I think Liam might like me back."

"What?" Louis exclaimed, careful to still keep his voice kind of low in case any of the others decided to join them unexpectedly. "That's great, isn't it?"

Zayn shrugged, bumping their shoulders together. 

"If you shrug one more time, Zayn Malik," Louis threatened. "I'll never make you another cup of tea so long as we live."

"I mean, I guess it's good, yeah," Zayn ignored Louis' empty threat. "But now it's like, what do I do? Do I push it? Do I tell him that I fancy him? Or do I just leave well enough alone? I don't want to fuck this up, Lou. I don't want to mess up my friendship with him or mess with the group. This is a good thing we have, the five of us. I don't want to ruin it." 

"I get that," Louis said, after a minute of silence. "I do. And I agree. I like hanging out the five of us. But, I also think that you and Liam could be really good for each other. Like, fuck, Zayn. He dragged you out of bed before noon on a Sunday to go see a movie because he thought you would like it. He talks about you all the time when you're not there or you're in another room. If I have to hear him call your zap tattoo cool one more time..." 

Louis trailed off and Zayn shot him a look. "How come you never told me any of this?"

It was Louis turn to shrug. "I didn't want to make it something more than it was, if it wasn't anything. You know how Liam is. He's just so earnest and enthusiastic about everything. I didn't want to tell you that he said something if he hadn't meant it the way you wanted him to." 

"So why are you telling me now?"

"Because I think you should go for it. I think you and Liam could be really, really good, mate. Give Niall and Harry a run for their money."

"Shut up," Zayn knocked their shoulders together a little harder, letting out a short laugh.

Louis laughed too. "Alright, maybe not. But he's a great guy, Z. And you're a great guy. And you both deserve great guys." 

Zayn finished his cigarette and pulled Louis into a quick hug. "Thanks, mate." 

"Yeah, yeah," Louis smiled, pushing Zayn off gently. "Can we go inside now? It's bloody freezing out here." 

Zayn chuckled as he tucked Louis under his arm and they made their way inside.

They squished into the booth at the back where the rest of the boys were already waiting, a plate of nachos on the table. 

"Thank god," Niall said as they sat down, Zayn pressed against Liam on one side with Louis against him on the other. Niall and Harry both dug into the nachos. 

"Aw, you waited for us," Zayn cooed at them. "How sweet." 

"Josh made us," Niall assured Zayn, mouth full of chips and cheese. 

Josh sent Louis and Zayn a smile before digging into the nachos himself. Between the six of them, they finished off the full order in just a few minutes. 

"Pints!" Niall exclaimed. "It is time for pints!" 

"I'll get them, yeah?" Harry offered. 

"I love you very much," Niall told him and turned his face up for a kiss as Harry stood. 

Harry bent down to kiss him sweetly. "I know that." 

"You two are awful," Josh complained. 

"You're just jealous," Niall responded, his eyes trained on Harry where he was ordering them drinks at the bar. 

Josh rolled his eyes. “Sure I am.”

They split another plate of nachos and drank a few beers. They ordered burgers and blessedly greasy chips and scarfed those down. They drank more beers and before they knew it, the pub was closing and they were out on the sidewalk in the cold. 

“You can stay at ours tonight, Liam,” Niall told Liam as they headed down the street. 

“No, it’s fine,” Liam answered. “I can get a cab, mate.”

Harry looked at Liam strangely. “That’s stupid. Just stay with us. I’ll make brekkie in the morning.” 

Liam looked conflicted. Zayn knocked his knuckles against Liam as they walked side by side. Liam glanced over at Zayn and the smile he offered up. 

“Yeah, sure,” Liam said. “A sleepover and breakfast sounds great.”

“You can bunk with Zayn,” Harry said because Harry was an asshole. Zayn was going to move out and find new friends. 

“Is that okay?” Liam turned to Zayn. “I can always sleep on the couch, I don’t mind.”

“That couch is awful, Li,” Zayn told him, shrugging and trying to play it off like no big deal. He could feel Harry’s grin trained on him without looking. “Of course you can stay in with me.”

“Thanks,” Liam said, grateful. 

Josh left them for his own flat not long after and they made their way home, joking around and pushing at each other. They were probably being a little bit louder than politeness dictated they be at this hour on a Friday night, but Zayn was drunk enough that he didn’t care. He had Niall on one side of him, singing Irish ballads into his neck and Louis on the other, shaking his fringe out so that it kept brushing Zayn’s cheek and then laughing like a madman. Liam had thrown Harry over his shoulder and was carrying him down the street in front of them. All in all, it had been a pretty great night.

\----

“Water,” Niall commanded when they walked through the door of the flat. “Everyone go drink at least two glasses of water.”

“Fuck off,” Louis responded. Harry was already tugging his shirt off. 

“No,” Niall glared. “You’re all right bastards in the morning if you have hangovers. Everyone, water. Now.”

“I love it when you boss me around,” Harry whispered. (Zayn’s giving him the benefit of the doubt that he at least _tried_ to whisper.)

“I know, baby, I know,” Niall told him, plastering himself against Harry’s back and walking him to the kitchen. 

“I love when you manhandle me, too,” Harry continued. 

Niall pressed a smile into the back of Harry’s neck and if Zayn didn’t already feel like throwing up because of the alcohol, he would feel like throwing up now. 

“You guys are so cute,” Liam cooed. 

They both shot Liam blinding smiles before disappearing into the kitchen. 

“I don’t wanna drink water,” Louis whined. “I want to drink vodka. Don’t we have some in the cabinet?”

“No, Lou,” Zayn said. “You’ve had enough.”

“Never enough,” Louis pouted. 

Liam nudged Louis towards the kitchen. “More than enough.”

Zayn followed Louis and Liam into the kitchen. Harry was seated on the counter with Niall in between his legs, drinking a glass of water. When it was empty, he handed it to Niall who refilled it and gave it back to him with a stern look. Harry smiled sheepishly and downed the whole glass. 

“Here, Zayn.” Zayn focused back on the rest of the room. Liam was holding out a glass of water towards him. 

“Thanks,” Zayn’s fingers brushed Liam’s as he took the glass. 

Liam smiled in response and took a long gulp from his own glass. 

“Alright, we’re heading to bed,” Niall announced, helping Harry down from the counter a few minutes later. 

“Are you going to actually sleep or should we put music on?” Louis wanted to know. Zayn wasn’t sure how Harry and Niall had ended up with the middle bedroom, but it had been a mistake. The walls in this flat weren’t exactly thick. 

“Actual sleep,” Niall decided after looking at Harry, who was practically asleep on his shoulder already. 

“Thank god,” Louis muttered before kissing both Niall and Harry on the forehead. “Goodnight.”

“Night, Louis,” Niall said. 

Harry leaned himself upright enough to pull Louis into a hug. “Night, Boo.”

“Don’t call me that,” Louis told him, but there was no heat behind it and Harry just gave him a lazy smile as Niall started them towards their bedroom. 

“Are you good if we turn in, Lou?” Zayn asked, putting his empty glass in the sink. 

“Yeah.” Louis scratched at his stomach absently. “I’m gonna head to bed too, I think.” 

“Probably a good idea,” Liam smiled softly at him. 

Louis smiled back and then kissed both Zayn and Liam on the forehead before turning and heading to his own room. 

“Do you want to shower or anything?” Zayn asked Liam. 

“Nah,” Liam answered easily. “I just want to crawl under some blankets and sleep.” 

“We can do that, yeah,” Zayn nudged Liam with his hip as they made their way out of the kitchen. 

They closed the door to Zayn’s room quietly behind them, not bothering with turning the lights on as they stripped out of their shirts and trousers and climbed into Zayn’s bed. Zayn wished he had ignored Niall’s demand that they all drink water and had taken up Louis’ idea of more alcohol instead as Liam slid under the duvet next to him. 

“What’s up with Louis and forehead kisses?” Liam asked once he was settled. There was a valley of space in between them, a few cool inches of mattress separating them. Zayn simultaneously wanted to move closer and farther away. 

Zayn shrugged, knowing Liam was close enough to feel the movement. “It’s just his thing, I guess. He has four younger sisters so I guess it’s habit for him.” 

“Four little sisters for him to kiss goodnight.” Liam’s voice was syrupy. “And now four lads for him to kiss goodnight as well.” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Zayn tried not to smile. “Did you drink both your glasses of water?”

“Yes, mum,” Liam huffed out a laugh. 

“I don’t want to wake up to a grumpy Liam,” Zayn protested. 

Liam rolled over so he was facing Zayn, who was still lying on his back looking at the ceiling. “We wake up to a grumpy Zayn like, everyday.”

Zayn turned his head to pout at Liam. Liam just laughed. 

“‘m not grumpy,” Zayn argued as his eyes started to close. He was more tired than he’d originally thought. “‘m very charming.”

“Of course you are.”

“Good night, Liam,” Zayn slurred out through a smile. 

“Good night, Zayn,” Liam answered back. 

Silence stretched out between them as Zayn’s breathing evened out. He was almost _almost_ asleep when he felt it: Liam’s lips against his own. 

It was fast, so fast that Zayn wasn’t sure he hadn’t dreamt it. But he could hear the way Liam’s breathing had sped up just a tiny bit, could feel the way his body was tense on the mattress like he was waiting for Zayn to move or wake up. Zayn kept his eyes closed and fought to keep himself from reacting in any way. 

He waited until he was sure Liam was asleep. And then he waited a few more minutes. Then, he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Liam, asleep on the pillow next to him, body turned towards Zayn. His mouth was open just a little, his brow furrowed as he slept. Zayn wanted to smooth the crease out of his brow, murmur nonsense to him until he relaxed. He did none of those things, but he did turn onto his side and fell asleep facing Liam.

\----

Zayn woke up the next morning to an empty bed. Which shouldn’t have felt strange as he woke up to an empty bed most days. But he specifically remembered falling asleep with Liam in his bed last night. And, more than that, he remembered Liam kissing him last night. At least, he thought it was a kiss. He doesn’t really know what else it could have been, but he had been tired and still a little drunk.

Zayn climbed out of his bed, stretching like a cat as he pulled a pair of trackies from his dresser drawer. He slid them on easily, downed two paracetamol with a gulp of water, and went out into the flat. Louis was lying on the couch with a pillow over his face. Harry and Niall were in the kitchen. 

“Smells good, babes,” Zayn came up behind Harry where he was standing at the cooker, frying up some eggs. He wrapped his arms around Harry’s waist and bit into his shoulder gently. 

“Get off my boyfriend, Malik,” Niall grumbled from where he was mixing up batter for waffles. 

Zayn released Harry, making his way over to Niall and clinging to him instead. Harry glanced over at them and rolled his eyes. 

“Where’s Liam?” Zayn asked. 

"He left like, three hours ago,” Louis called from the couch. “I got up to piss and he was sneaking out. Said he forgot he picked up an extra shift at the aquarium today.”

“Yeah, sure,” Zayn bit at his bottom lip. “I think Liam kissed me last night.” 

Louis was in the kitchen before Zayn even finished his sentence. 

“You think?” Harry seemed amused. “You’re not sure?”

“No,” Zayn admitted. “I was almost asleep.” 

“Aw, did you dream that Liam was kissing you?” Louis teased. 

Zayn frowned at him and Niall swatted at Louis. “Don’t be mean, Lou. Zaynie was kissed by the love of his life and he doesn’t even know if it really happened!”

“I don’t know why I continue to live here,” Zayn growled at them. 

“Because we love you and you love us,” Harry told him simply. He plated some of the eggs and put them down at Zayn’s spot at the table. “And I make you breakfast.” 

“You do make me breakfast,” Zayn responded. Harry swatted at him with the spatula in retaliation.

\----

Zayn: _you left :(_

Liam: _yeh sorry. forgot i had to work :(((_

Zayn: _you missed breakfast_

Liam: _next time_

\----

Except there wasn’t a next time. There couldn’t be. Liam went into exams at his university that week and the boys were lined up to go into their own exams a week later.

“I’m going to pull my fucking hair out if I have to read one more word about studio design,” Niall complained loudly, shoving his textbook away from himself. 

All the boys were stressed as they entered exam week. Niall and Louis were the worst though. Louis lived in total denial of the upcoming exams. 

“You have to study, Lou,” Harry said. 

“I don’t _have_ to do anything,” Louis would retort. Eventually, Harry talked Louis into cracking his textbook and making a few flashcards at least. 

Niall got stressed. He forgot to eat and sometimes to sleep in an attempt to learn an entire term’s worth of work in a week. He barely looked away from his revision enough to kiss Harry goodnight. Zayn made it a point to spend extra time with Harry while Niall was busy with his books.

Harry had been preparing for his exams for almost three weeks, so he took it upon himself to take care of everyone else while they freaked out and revised until half three in the morning.

Zayn studied in bursts. There would be nights where he barely studied at all, balanced out by afternoons where he didn't look up from his textbook. Living together wasn't a challenge until exam week and then sometimes it felt like Zayn's personal brand of Hell.

It had been almost two weeks since they’d seen him when Liam walked into the store on the afternoon of the day before Zayn’s last day of exams.

“Liam!” Harry cheered. He’d finished his last exam that morning and was, now, blissfully stress free. 

“Where have you been?” Louis snapped at Liam, capping his highlighter and putting his book aside. Harry frowned at him. Louis still had two exams to go. 

Liam flushed a bit. “I had exams and stuff. And then I figured I would give you guys space to study. I know how stressful it is.” 

“Very, very stressful,” Louis agreed, leaning against Harry’s counter. “Zayn hasn’t done more than grunt and glare at us for three days.” 

Zayn looked up from his textbook to glare at Louis who rolled his eyes and said, “You see?”

“Where’s Niall?” Liam asked. 

“In the back room,” Harry answered. “It’s a slow day, so he’s been hanging back there doing some revision. I should probably check on him soon.” 

“Go ahead, we’ve got the front covered,” Louis told Harry. Harry kissed him on the cheek and disappeared. Louis looked between Liam and Zayn and then announced, “Well, I have some restocking to do in cosmetics. Don’t burn down the store while I’m away.” 

“Zayn?” Liam asked tentatively once Louis was gone. 

Zayn grunted in response as he read something about brushstrokes and their importance. He looked up when Liam’s hand came down on his own. He raised his eyebrows and Liam blushed just a bit. 

“Take a break for a second,” Liam coaxed him, sliding his hand off of Zayn’s and sliding Zayn’s textbook out of reach. “Your face is gonna get stuck like that.” 

“Like what?” Zayn demanded. 

Liam laughed and hopped up onto the counter. He poked Zayn in the middle of his forehead. “All wrinkly and frowny.” 

“That’s not very nice, _Leeyum_ ,” Zayn whined but he was smiling. 

Liam blushed and swung his legs so they banged against the counter. “I like when you say my name like that.”

Zayn smirked at that. "Like what? I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Yes you do." Liam rolled his eyes. Liam rolled his eyes almost as much as Zayn did at this point. “You get all Bradford-y.”

“Do I?” Zayn laughed a little under his breath. He stopped laughing, however, when Liam reached out and laced their fingers together, holding Zayn’s hand in his own. And it’s so stupid that something as simple as Liam taking his hand makes his heart rate speed up and his breathing catch. They’re a very tactile group of friends. Zayn has held the other boys’ hands more times than he can count. This shouldn’t be a big deal. 

But it is because it’s _Liam_. Liam, who might have kissed Zayn a few weeks ago. Liam, who’s just sitting there, smiling at Zayn and telling Zayn he likes how Zayn says his name and _holding Zayn’s hand_. 

“Yeah,” Liam moved his thumb in small circles on Zayn’s skin. “It’s kind of sexy.” 

Zayn almost choked on his tongue. “Liam, I -” 

They were interrupted by the return of Harry, who was tugging Niall along by the arm. 

“Harry, let me go!” Niall yelled. “I have more reading to do.” 

“You can spend five minutes away from your books, Niall,” Harry argued with him. “Liam’s here, you can come say hello.”

Zayn was going to hide Harry’s body where no one would ever find it. 

They came into view of the counters and Liam pulled his hand back from Zayn’s. 

“Hi, Liam,” Niall greeted, voice devoid of the usual enthusiasm. “Bye, Liam.”

“No.” Harry caught the back of Niall’s jumper, pulling Niall into his side. “You need a break.” 

“More like you want to get off.” Louis popped back out from the shelves. 

Harry tucked Niall under his chin, pulling him into his chest instead of his side so he could wrap his long arms around Niall tightly. “If we wanted to get off, we would have stayed in the back room.” 

“Please don’t talk about getting off in the break room that we all use,” Zayn pleaded. 

Niall flashed a grin over his shoulder at Zayn and the started pressing kisses to Harry’s neck, which he stretched to give Niall more access to. 

“I should go.” Liam slid off of Zayn’s counter. He grabbed a package of peanut butter cups and placed them on the counter, putting the money for them in Zayn’s hand. 

Zayn gave Liam his change as Liam ripped open the package. He bit into a peanut butter cup and gave Zayn a chocolately smile. Zayn shook his head as Liam popped the other half of the peanut butter cup into his mouth. He shook the other one out of the package and pressed it into Zayn’s palm. 

“For you, yeah?” Liam grinned, almost shy, as he backed away towards the front door of the store. 

“For me, yeah,” Zayn turned the peanut butter cup between his fingers. “Thanks, _Leeyum_.” 

Liam blushed as he pushed through the door and left. 

“Well,” Louis said. “If you two are quite finished.”

“Shut up, Lou,” Zayn said, but he couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he ate the peanut butter cup whole.

\----

Zayn doesn’t see Liam again until the Saturday before they’re all getting ready to leave for winter break.

“I can’t believe you guys are going to leave me here all by myself for the holidays,” Liam whined at them. 

“We’re going to be gone for two weeks,” Harry told him. “We’ll be back for the new year.”

“And we’re going to go out,” Niall chimed in. “Celebrate Lou’s birthday.”

“Though I still expect four phone calls on Christmas Eve,” Louis informed them. 

“I want a phone call every day,” Zayn said. “From all of you. My sisters are going to be unbearable.”

“Tell me about it,” Liam added. He put the basket he’d been filling for the past half hour on Zayn’s counter and Zayn pulled out one of the sugary cereals Liam favored, making a face at it as he rang it up. 

For the most part, Liam relied on his parents for food, it was part of the deal he’d made with them when he’d agreed to move back home. He had a huge sweet tooth though (that wasn’t just restricted to candy) and his mom refused to contribute to the cavities Liam was sure to eventually get. Liam came in every Saturday to stock up on overly sweet treats and sugary snacks. 

“My mum always throws this huge Christmas party on Christmas Eve,” Liam went on, but more to Zayn than to the other three. Harry threw a wink at Zayn as they all pretended to be occupied by their mobiles and each other, effectively leaving Zayn and Liam alone. “She invites, like, everyone we’ve ever met, bless her. She wanted me to bring you guys with me, but I told her you’re all going home for the holiday.” 

“Maybe next year,” Zayn told him and Liam’s answering smile was so bright, that Zayn had to look away. 

“It’s just awkward, you know, because my ex is going to be there and we left things in a really weird place,” Liam went on. “I’m hoping we can fix it when we see each other.” 

It was as Liam admitted this out loud that Zayn scanned in the last two items from Liam’s basket: a box of condoms and lube. Liam rambled on a bit more about his ex and trying to make things better between them, but Zayn couldn’t hear anything over the rushing sound in his ears. 

God, he was so _stupid_. Of course Liam had a boy back home (or girl, Zayn wasn’t actually sure). Zayn had mistaken Liam starting to fit into their group as something else. He was so mad at himself, he should have known better than to read into anything that had happened. Liam was too attractive, too sweet, too _wonderful_ to not already have someone. And yeah, it was his ex, but if Liam wanted to fix things between them, to get back together, then he would. 

Zayn looked up at Liam, but didn’t make eye contact as he told him how much he owed. Liam handed Zayn the money and Zayn put it in the till, handing Liam his change, eyes still downcast. 

“Text me when you get back, okay?” Liam asked as he collected his things. 

"Sure, yeah," Zayn agreed, still not meeting Liam's eye. 

Liam's hand came under Zayn's chin and tilted Zayn's chin up until Zayn was forced to meet Liam's eyes. "I'll call you. And you can call me, yeah?" 

"Yeah," Zayn answered and then pulled his chin away so he didn't have to look at Liam anymore. 

Liam smiled and said goodbye to the other boys, accepting hugs from all of them. 

"Let him go, Louis. We're only going to be gone for two weeks," Zayn heard Niall groan as he wrestled Louis away from Liam. Once Liam was free of Louis' death grip, he turned and left the store, tucking his jacket a bit tighter around him against the cold wind. 

"Well, that was interesting,” Louis climbed up onto Zayn’s counter. 

Zayn shrugged. “That’s one word for it.”

\----

Liam: _happy christmas zayn!_

Zayn: _same to you, liam_

Liam: _missssssss you_

Liam: _are you having a nice holiday?_

Liam: _can’t wait to seeeee you when you get back!_

Liam: _zayn?_

\----

Zayn let Liam’s messages sit unanswered in his phone all of break. He spent time with his family, saw some of his old friends, and tried not to think about how Liam and his ex were probably back together, fucking passionately beneath a Christmas tree while Liam’s parents were out for dinner. They were still sitting in his mobile as he shoved open the door to the flat with his shoulder.

“You’re back!” Niall threw himself across the room and latched onto Zayn tightly.  
“I am,” Zayn agreed, dropping his bag to wrap his arms around Niall’s waist. 

“Zayn’s back!” Harry yelled coming out of the loo. “Lou! Zayn’s back!” 

“This flat isn’t that big,” Louis commented coming out of the kitchen, a bag of crisps in hand. “I heard the door open.”

“Don’t be a twat,” Zayn scoffed at Louis over Niall’s shoulder. Harry came over and pried Niall away so he could envelop Zayn in a hug of his own. 

“Someone has to be,” Louis shrugged, crossing the room and waiting for Harry to disentangle his long limbs from around Zayn. Zayn reached out then and pulled Louis in by the back of the neck, forcing him into a tight hug. “Liam will be here in a few minutes and then we’re going to head out. Haz made reservations at that restaurant in the city I like and then we’re off to the club!” 

“With VIP passes,” Harry added, looking at something on his phone. “You remember my friend Nick from back home?”

“Unfortunately,” Louis muttered under his breath. 

“Well he works as a Radio One DJ now and he got passes for the New Year’s Eve Bash at one of the clubs in the city tonight but he couldn’t make it, so he gave them to me!” Harry grinned. 

“Sick, mate,” Zayn let go of Louis to fist bump Harry. “Let me put my stuff away and change.”

Zayn picked his bag up and headed into his room, closing the door behind him. Or, he tried to close the door at least. 

“Hey, mate,” Niall said, coming into Zayn’s room and closing the door behind himself. “Can we talk?”

“Sure,” Zayn tossed his bag onto his bed and opened the door to his closet. He slipped out of his jacket and tugged his jumper off as he searched for something suitable to wear out tonight. 

“I talked to Liam,” Niall started. Zayn kept his back to Niall, suddenly more focused on finding something to wear. “He says you didn’t answer his texts the whole time we were away. Which is weird, mate, because you answered my texts. And Lou says you answered his, too, and I know you answered Harry’s. So why didn’t you answer Liam’s?”

Zayn shrugged. “Just got busy, I guess.”

“That’s bullshit, Zayn,” Niall groaned, throwing himself onto Zayn’s bed and knocking Zayn’s bag to the floor, “and you know it. What happened?”

Zayn pulled a shirt off its hanger and slipped it on, doing up the buttons with more care than they probably deserved. “Nothing happened.” 

“Zayn.” Niall’s voice was firm. 

Zayn finally turned and faced Niall. He crossed over to his bed and climbed on top of the covers beside Niall, letting Niall swing an arm across his waist and curl up against his side. 

“He’s back with his ex,” Zayn confessed quietly, staring up at his ceiling. 

“He’s what?” Niall asked incredulously. “He didn’t say anything about that when we spoke last night.”

“Yeah, well,” Zayn shrugged. “Before we left he told me he was going to try to fix things with his ex.” 

“That doesn’t mean they got back together,” Niall argued. 

“He bought condoms and lube, Niall,” Zayn tilted his head to fix Niall with a look. 

“Oh,” Niall huffed. “That still doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe,” Zayn agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. Because either way he wanted to fix things with his ex which means he’s probably still into them. Which means he’s not into me.”

“Then he’s an idiot,” Niall pulled Zayn closer. “Anyone who isn’t into you is dumb or a liar.”

“Thanks, mate,” Zayn laughed, kissing the top of Niall’s head. 

“You don’t have to come out with us tonight if you don’t want to,” Niall offered. 

Zayn raised his eyebrows at Niall. 

“Okay,” Niall chuckled. “Louis’ gonna make you come out with us no matter what. But I’ve got your back, alright? If you wanna leave early or anything, just let me know and we can go.”

“You’re the best, man,” Zayn told him. “Honestly. Don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Die, probably,” Niall planted a sloppy kiss on Zayn’s cheek. They heard the front door of the flat slam and Louis and Harry call out in greeting to Liam. “You ready to go? Or do you want to hide out in here a little bit longer?”

“It was a crush, Niall, not a break up,” Zayn rolled his eyes, but he would be lying if he hadn’t thought about hiding in here for just a second. “There’s no reason to hide from him.”

“If you say so,” Niall pushed himself up and off Zayn’s bed, holding out a hand for Zayn to take, which he did. 

“Niall! Zayn!” Liam exclaimed when they walked out into the living room. 

“Liam!” Niall exclaimed right back, stepping forward into Liam’s outstretched arms. “Did you have a nice holiday?”

“It was alright, yeah,” Liam answered. “Sorted some stuff out.”

“That’s good,” Niall responded but Zayn could hear the undercurrent in Niall’s voice. It was the same undercurrent lacing its way through Zayn’s thoughts: Liam had probably sorted some stuff out with his ex. 

Zayn stepped up next for his hug from Liam, which he made as brief as possible. He outright refused to bury his face in Liam’s neck and just breathe him in the way that his body wanted him to. He held himself back, but just barely. He was pathetic. 

“Right, then. We ready to go?” Harry was rubbing his hands together like some kind of cartoon villain. 

“Let’s go!” Louis cheered and they all grabbed their coats, except Liam who still had his on, and headed out the door. 

“Did you have a nice visit at home?” Liam asked, falling in step with Zayn. 

“It was good, yeah,” Zayn said. “Spent a lot of time with my sisters, caught up with a few mates.” 

“That’s good!” Liam smiled at him. 

“I guess I don’t need to ask how yours went,” Zayn commented and he wanted to punch himself in the face. He didn’t bitch or snipe, at least not when he was fully awake. He left that to Harry and Louis, who bitched and sniped like it was an Olympic sport. 

“Oh,” Liam let out the word like he hadn’t meant to make a sound at all. “Okay then.”

“Liam, I-”

“No. You know what, Zayn? It’s fine. Whatever it is, it’s fine, yeah?”

“No, it’s not and-”

“Louis! Louis, wait up!” Liam jogged off to catch up with Louis. 

“What the fuck was that?” Harry demanded. 

“Nothing,” Zayn answered and his voice was sadder than he meant it to be. This was not how tonight was supposed to go at all. “It was nothing.”

“It didn’t look like nothing,” Harry pressed. 

“Let it go, Hazza, I’ll tell you later,” Niall cut in diplomatically. 

“You had better,” Harry threatened. Niall kissed him quickly as they arrived at the train station. 

“No, no kissing,” Zayn complained, a smile creeping onto his face. “It’s too soon for you to be kissing. I _just_ got back.”

“Lucky you,” Louis called over his shoulder. “I got in just as Harry came. Great welcome home present, that was.”

“You weren’t due in for another hour!” Harry protested. “We thought we had plenty of time.” 

“You knew I was home when you sucked Niall off in the bathroom a few hours ago!” Louis stopped walking so he could punch Harry in the shoulder. 

“Lads, we’re in public,” Niall scolded, but he had a smug look on his face. 

“And so are you when you’re getting off with Harry, most of the time,” Louis shot back, fixing his hair primly. 

Liam remained quiet through most of their banter and Zayn felt a surge of guilt go through him. God, he could be such a twat. He would apologize to Liam first chance he got. 

“Are you staying at ours tonight, Li?” Harry asked as they boarded their train and headed for the city. 

Liam’s eyes met Zayn’s for the briefest of seconds before he opened his mouth to answer. 

“Of course he is,” Zayn cut in. He could tell from the way Liam’s shoulders had tensed that he had been about to say no. “Would be silly to send him home all alone and drunk at whatever godforsaken hour we leave the club.” 

Liam pursed his lips, studying Zayn. Zayn held Liam’s gaze, refusing to back down. 

“Yeah, I’ll stay over,” Liam finally answered Harry. “Wouldn’t want to wake my parents stumbling in at three in the morning or anything.”

“Good, that’s settled then,” Harry said and went back to biting at the hood of Niall’s sweater.

\----

They nearly got kicked out of the restaurant, but it was fine because they were all already pleasantly buzzed and itching to leave anyways.

“Do you think we’ll meet any celebrities tonight?” Liam asked as they made their way to the club a few blocks away from where they’d eaten. 

“Maybe,” Harry shrugged. “And if we do, we’re all going to stay cool, right? They’re just people like us.”

“No, babe,” Louis peered over the bridge of his nose at Harry. “They’re not. Because they don’t have to worry about the rent or university fees.” 

Harry rolled his eyes. “And tonight, neither do you. Let’s ring in the new year the right way, yeah?”

“What? Wasted and dancing?” Zayn asked, raising his eyebrows skeptically. 

“The only way to do it,” Niall told him and then Harry was flashing their VIP passes to the bouncer at the door and they were in. 

“Fuck, but it is crowded,” Liam whistled, voice getting lost in the loud bass of whatever club remix the DJ was pumping through the speakers. 

Niall faltered in his step just a bit and Harry instinctively reached out and took his hand. He grinned at Niall and said, “I got you, babe. Not gonna leave your side all night, promise.”

Zayn pressed up against Niall’s back quickly to tell him, “You have my back, I have yours. If you need to get away, I’ll go with you.” 

“Fuck off, both of you,” Niall told him, but his smile was fond. “I’ll be fine as soon as I’m too drunk to tell faces apart.”

By then Louis and Liam had already disappeared into the crowd. Zayn followed Niall and Harry as they made their way over to the bar. Louis was already there. 

“Did you order already?” Harry demanded. 

“Yes?” Louis looked up at him quizzically. 

“And did you pay yet?” Harry wanted to know. 

Louis grinned at that. “Absolutely not. I’m the birthday boy. All drinks are on you. I swiped your card out of your wallet when you weren’t looking and told the bartender to open a tab up on it.” 

“You’re such a bastard,” Harry ruffled Louis’ hair. Louis glared at him. 

“Get me drunk!” Niall exclaimed from Harry’s side. “I want to be drunk!” 

“Where’s Liam?” Zayn asked, looking around for him. 

“Already dancing,” Louis answered. “He’s pretty good, too.” 

Zayn craned his neck to look around the crowded club. He could just spot Liam, a bit taller than most of the crowd, in the middle of the dance floor. There were two girls dancing with him, flirty smiles on their faces as they laughed at something Liam did that Zayn couldn’t see. 

“Zayn?” Niall’s voice came. “What do you want to drink, mate?”

The bartender was looking at him expectantly. 

Zayn thought about the girls dancing with Liam again and about how Liam was also probably back together with his ex and about how Liam was most definitely upset with him. “I want shots of whatever’s strongest. I want lots and lots of shots.”

\----

Zayn had had lots and lots of shots by the time Louis made his way back over to the bar.

“Come on and dance,” Louis wheedled, fringe sticking to his forehead. He flicks it out of the way impatiently. “You must be drunk enough by now.”

“I don’t want to dance with you,” Zayn pouted and yep, he was drunk. “I want to dance with Liam.”

“So go dance with Liam,” Louis said simply, flagging down the bartender. 

“Can’t,” Zayn hung his head like he was about to get scolded for not turning in his homework in primary school or something. “Liam’s mad at me.” 

“Why is Liam mad at you?” Louis’ voice is surprised. 

“He hasn’t said anything?” 

“Not to me.”

“Oh.”

There is a long moment of silence in which Louis tried yet again to flag down the bartender. He got her attention, finally, and got a drink in his hand before he repeated to Zayn, “Why is Liam mad at you?”

“Because he has a boyfriend and I got jealous and I snapped at him,” Zayn confessed. 

“Liam doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Louis laughed. 

“Girlfriend, then,” Zayn amended, heart sinking just a bit. 

Louis frowned at Zayn so Zayn frowned back. Louis rolled his eyes and said, “Liam is very much single, Zayn.”

“No,” Zayn argued, more stubborn in his drunkenness. “He’s not. He was going to fix things with his ex over the holidays. Get everything all sorted.”

“He did get everything all sorted,” Louis told him. “But they’re not back together. They just left things in a really weird place and Liam wanted to make sure that David knew it was really over between them. I guess David thought there might be something still between them or something and Liam wanted to set the record straight.”

“If Liam wanted things to be over between them, why did he buy lube and condoms before we left?” Zayn demanded. 

“Oh my god,” Louis gaped at him. “Is that what this is about? You think that he bought those so him and his ex could get back together and fuck under the Christmas tree or something?”

Zayn glared at Louis. 

“Zayn, fuck,” Louis grabbed onto Zayn’s arm, careful not to spill the drink he was holding in his other hand. “Zayn, _I_ put the condoms and lube in Liam’s basket that day. I did it when he wasn’t looking.”

“What the fuck, Lou?”

Louis had the decency to at least pretend to look sheepish. “I thought if I got you guys thinking about sex, you’d realize that you want to be having sex with each other.” 

Zayn was dumbstruck. He was literally struck dumb. He had no idea how to even respond to that. 

“Zayn?” Louis questioned. 

“So…” Zayn paused. He started again. “So, what you’re trying to tell me is that Liam is not only single, but into dudes?”

“Yes on both counts.”

“Okay, yeah,” Zayn said, a little dazed. “Right, I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” Louis called after him as Zayn walked towards the dance floor. 

“To dance with Liam,” Zayn yelled back over the music and then he turned his back on Louis and set out to find Liam among the bodies packed on the floor.

\----

He found Liam pretty quickly, considering the amount of people he had to shimmy his way between. Liam was still dancing with the two girls from earlier, though their flirty smiles were gone, replaced with regular ones.

“Mind if I cut in?” Zayn asked of them loudly as he came up to Liam. He was just drunk enough that saying that felt more romantic than stupid. 

Both of the girls shrugged and stepped back, leaving more room for Zayn in front of Liam. Zayn slithered into the space, smiling up at Liam cautiously. He reached out and put his hands on Liam’s hips, starting to sway his own to the rhythm. 

“What are you doing?” Liam asked, placing his own hands on Zayn’s shoulders, hands coming to rest at the back of Zayn’s neck. 

“Dancing with you,” Zayn answered simply. 

“I thought you were mad at me.” Liam’s voice was laced with hurt and Zayn wasn’t drunk enough that that didn’t hurt him too. “You didn’t talk to me while you were gone and then you came back and it felt like you wanted nothing to do with me.” 

“You didn’t get back together with your ex,” Zayn blurted in lieu of actually answering Liam. 

“No?” Liam tilted his head, confused. Zayn really wanted to kiss him. 

“I thought you were getting back together with your ex,” Zayn admitted, leaning in closer so that Liam could hear him over the music and yelling. “You bought condoms and stuff and I thought that meant you were trying to get back together with him.”

“I- I,” Liam stammered just a little bit, going red even under the flashing lights. “This is going to sound so stupid, but I have no idea how that stuff got into my basket. Honest, Zayn.”

“I know,” Zayn told him. “It was Louis! Louis put them in your basket.”

Liam rolled his eyes at that. “Of course he did.” 

“I didn’t mean to ignore you!” Zayn said in a rush, alcohol making him very honest. “When I was gone, I mean. It’s just… I thought you were getting back with your ex and I didn’t really want to hear about that.”

“Why not?” Liam smirked a bit and Zayn knew he was taking the piss but Zayn had had it. Zayn wanted to kiss Liam and do a lot of other things to Liam and with Liam and if everything went south now, at least he could blame it on the alcohol tomorrow. 

“Because I was jealous. I didn’t want to hear about you dating someone else or whatever, because I fancy you.” Zayn spat it all out in one breath and then held his next one, waiting for Liam to answer. 

“You fancy me?” Liam grinned down at Zayn and they were only barely swaying to the music at this point. 

“Very much, yes.” Zayn decided to stick with his honesty thing. 

“Thank fuck,” Liam exhaled and pulled Zayn into a kiss. 

It took Zayn a second (he was going to blame that on the alcohol if ever questioned), but then he was kissing Liam back, sucking Liam’s bottom lip into his mouth eagerly. Liam’s hands curled around the back of his neck, holding him in place as Liam adjusted the angle of his own mouth. Their lips slotted together again and Zayn’s hands gripped tighter at Liam’s hips. 

Liam ran his tongue across the seam of Zayn’s mouth and Zayn opened for him quickly, his own tongue meeting with Liam’s. Liam hummed at him at that and pulled Zayn in so he was flush against Liam’s body, making Liam just a few inches taller and giving Liam control of the kiss and okay. Okay, Zayn could totally work with that. 

Zayn let Liam explore his mouth, sucking on Liam’s tongue, and letting his hands slip up the back of Liam’s shirt. It was when Zayn took control of the kiss back and started fucking his tongue into Liam’s mouth that Liam finally pulled back. 

“How drunk are you?” Liam asked, breathing shallow. 

“Not drunk enough to not know what I’m doing,” Zayn answered. He was already feeling more sober than he had all night. Probably because he was no longer sad on top of having done more shots than he cares to remember now. 

“Good,” Liam says, leaning in to capture Zayn’s mouth in another kiss. He pulled back and Zayn whined at him. Liam just smiled. “Why don’t we get out of here? Go somewhere quieter, maybe? More private?”

“Yes, please,” Zayn said quickly. He laced his fingers with Liam’s and tugged him through the crowd. Liam pressed up against his back, guiding Zayn along as they pushed through the club to get to the exit. He pressed his lips up against the side of Zayn’s neck, biting small, sharp bites into the skin there. 

“Shouldn’t we find one of the boys? Tell them we’re leaving?” Liam asked, lips right up against Zayn’s ear so that he didn’t have to shout to be heard. 

Zayn glanced around and didn’t see any of the boys so he shrugged, still making his way towards the exit. “I’ll text them from the cab and let them know we’ve left.”

They finally managed to exit the club and Zayn managed to break away from Liam long enough to hail a cab. Zayn rattled off the address of his flat and then turned his head to kiss Liam. 

Zayn turned the kiss dirty, moaning loudly against Liam’s mouth as Liam’s hands found Zayn’s hips. It was so cramped in the back of the cab that Zayn nearly ended up on top of Liam as they made out in the backseat. 

“Jesus, Zayn,” Liam broke away as Zayn’s hands reached for the flies on his jeans. “We’re five minutes away from your flat.”

“Been waiting for you for months,” Zayn gasped out, giving up on undoing Liam’s jeans in favor of rubbing his hand against the bulge of Liam’s cock through the fabric. “Don’t want to wait anymore.” 

“We’re not getting off in the back of a taxi, Zayn,” Liam said firmly, capturing both of Zayn’s wrists in one of his hands. “Did you text one of the boys yet to let them know we’ve left?”

“I don’t want to text one of the boys, I want to suck your dick," Zayn whined. He was always pushy when it came to sex. It had exasperated Louis to no end back when they were sleeping together.

“Jesus,” Liam muttered. He turned a hard stare on Zayn. Zayn would have called it a glare, but the arousal was coming through too strongly for Liam to be actually glaring at him right now. “If I let go of you, can you promise to keep your hands to yourself for five seconds so I can text Louis and let him know we went home?”

Zayn rolled his eyes and nodded. Liam released his wrists, eying him warily as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He looked away from Zayn to write a text to Louis, and Zayn made his move, sliding across the back seat of the taxi to press the side of his thigh up against the side of Liam’s, letting one of his hands come to rest high on Liam’s thigh. 

“Zayn,” Liam warned, not looking up from his mobile. 

“Not m’fault you’re so hot _Leeyum_.” Zayn leaned in to breathe in Liam’s ear, nipping gently at Liam’s earlobe. “I wanna lick you all over.” 

Liam sent the the text to Louis and turned back to Zayn. “Right,” he said firmly and then put a hand to the back of Zayn’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. 

“Mmm,” Zayn hummed against Liam’s lips, pressing even closer to Liam in the back of the cab. He could feel himself getting harder and _Jesus_ how long was this cab ride?

The cab pulled to stop in front of Zayn’s flat just when Liam’s hand reached the bulge in Zayn’s jeans and Zayn cursed their cab driver’s shit timing. Zayn tossed some notes at the cab driver and pulled Liam out of the taxi behind him. He pulled Liam up the steps to the front door of his flat, unlocking it a lot faster than he ever had even when he was sober. They scrambled up the stairs inside to the third floor, where the flat actually was. Zayn unlocked that just as quickly and they stumbled into the entryway. Liam turned and pushed Zayn up against the door, kissing him fiercely. 

“ _Fuck_ , Liam,” Zayn groaned as Liam kissed and nipped his way down Zayn’s neck. 

“That’s the idea,” Liam practically growled at Zayn, though he pulled back, a question in his eyes. 

“Whatever you want,” Zayn told him hastily. “Anything you want, just please take off your shirt.”

Liam chuckled, stepping away from Zayn and shrugging out of his jacket. “Come on.” He smirked at Zayn as he pulled up the hem of his shirt. “Bedroom.”

He turned his back on Zayn then, tugging his shirt over his head and dropping it on the couch in the living room area before walking into Zayn’s bedroom. 

Zayn hurried after him, stripping out of his own coat and shirt on the way. He nearly stopped breathing altogether when he reached his room. Liam had spread himself out on Zayn’s bed, having ditched his jeans as well, and was palming himself through his boxers. 

“Liam,” Zayn breathed out, mouth going absolutely dry. 

“You’re a little overdressed, love.” Liam grinned at him, abs flexing as he increased the pressure of his own palm against his cock. “Take off your trousers and get over here.”

“You’re bossy,” Zayn narrowed his eyes at Liam as he struggled to take off his jeans. He put everything he had into not falling over as he stepped out of them. 

“Oh,” Liam made an apologetic face. “I could not be?”

“No, it’s hot,” Zayn responded instantly. 

“Oh,” Liam’s face brightened a bit. “In that case… Come over here, yeah? I want to touch you.”

“ _You_ want to touch _me_?” Zayn laughed a bit as he made his way to the bed. “You’re so fucking fit, Li, I’m pretty sure I’m never going to want to stop touching you.”

“Do you own a mirror?” Liam shot back at him. “God, Zayn, your _face_.” 

“Do you think I’m pretty?” Zayn teased as he climbed onto the bed and straddled Liam’s hips. 

“The prettiest,” Liam reached up and stroked a hand along Zayn’s cheek. Zayn leaned into the touch, practically rubbing his face against Liam’s hand. 

“God, I can’t wait for you to be inside me,” Zayn murmured, eyes closed. Liam stilled underneath him and Zayn let the smirk grow on his face without opening his eyes. “How do you want me then? On my back? On all fours? Do you want me to ride you, _Leeyum_?”

“Fuck,” Liam said emphatically, bucking his hips up so that bulge in his boxers rubbed up against Zayn’s. 

Zayn hissed at the contact, the friction even with the material between their cocks so, so good. “Again,” he demanded of Liam, who happily obliged, bringing his hips up to meet Zayn’s again and again. 

Zayn ground down against Liam, head still swimming from the alcohol at the club and vision hazy with arousal. 

“I’m going to come,” Zayn admitted, almost sheepishly to Liam. “It’s the alcohol, I promise. I can usually go much longer than this.”

Liam just smiled up at him. “Go on then, come for me.” 

“Want you to come with me,” Zayn whined, frowning down at Liam. 

“I’ll be fine, love,” Liam assured him with a laugh. 

Zayn bent over to crush his lips to Liam’s again, Liam’s tongue darting quickly into his mouth as they rolled their hips against each other in a slip-sliding rhythm that kept building. The kissing turned into a sharing of air as Zayn pulled away to pant, the closer he got to his orgasm. 

“Come on, baby,” Liam encouraged, ghosting one hand over Zayn’s erection and that was it. Zayn came in his pants just from rutting against Liam. 

“Your turn, come on,” Zayn said, even as his eyelids drooped and he fought to stay balanced on top of Liam. 

Liam laughed, though it was pitched a bit higher than usual. “Lie down, Zayn, you’re falling asleep.” 

“No,” Zayn protested. “I just need to close my eyes for a few seconds and then I’m gonna take care of you, okay?”

“Okay,” Liam agreed, but Zayn could tell from his tone that Liam was just humoring him. 

“I mean it,” Zayn let his eyes fall shut, frowning in Liam’s general direction. “Gonna make you come so hard, baby.” 

Zayn didn’t hear Liam’s response as he had already fallen to sleep.

\----

Zayn woke up to a pounding headache and a heavy weight across his chest. He looked around, early morning sunlight streaming into his room. It was way too goddamn early to be awake. But then Zayn turned and there he was, Liam, curled against Zayn's side, arm across Zayn's chest. It was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Zayn had ever seen. His fingers ached for his pencils and sketchbook.

Zayn sat up just a bit, leaning up on his elbows. He bit back a groan as the pounding in his head went crazy. Liam's arm slid from his chest down to around his waist. Liam murmured softly in his sleep and pulled Zayn closer to him. Zayn rolled his eyes but couldn't stop smiling. He turned to try and find a clock, and found a glass of water with two paracetamols. Last night suddenly came flashing back to him. He remembered dancing with Liam, kissing Liam (oh God _kissing Liam_ ), getting off with Liam... Wait, no. Zayn had gotten off but then... 

Jesus fucking Christ eating homemade pasta. Zayn had fallen asleep before getting Liam off. All that and he hadn't even gotten to touch Liam's dick. He was the world's biggest idiot. Liam snuffled in his sleep, curling even closer to Zayn, something Zayn hadn't really thought possible with how close they already were. Liam's new position had his morning wood pressed up against Zayn's hip. 

Zayn tilted his hip just a bit and Liam canted his hips into it, brow furrowing even in his sleep. Well, that Zayn could work with. He reached over and popped the paracetamols in his mouth, gulping down some water. He gently pried Liam's arm off his stomach, pushing it so that Liam rolled over onto his back. Liam grumbled lightly in his sleep, but settled in on his back, breathing a little raspier now. Zayn smiled to himself as he carefully lifted himself over Liam's body.

He placed a kiss to Liam's nose, then a quick peck to Liam's lips. His chin, a few along his jaw and neck. Zayn kissed his way down Liam's torso, Liam's abs clenching as Zayn's breath ghosted over them. Zayn mouthed at the skin above Liam's pants, letting his tongue slip out to glide along the skin over Liam's hips. Liam whispered out a moan and shifted into Zayn's touch, clearly seeking out some friction for his hardening cock. 

"Li," Zayn said, voice soothing but loud enough that Liam started to stir. "Wake up, Li, come on."

Liam grunted and his eyes stayed firmly shut. Zayn used his teeth to nip at Liam's stomach. "Wake up, Liam, come on. I want to suck you off." 

Liam's eyes blinked open slowly. Zayn watched, biting his lip to keep his grin in check, as Liam looked around sleepily, clearly trying to figure out where he was. Liam's eyes eventually met Zayn's and Liam frowned just a bit. "Zayn?"

"Morning, babe," Zayn smirked at him. "'m gonna suck you off now, if that's alright?"

"What?" Liam's voice was heavy with sleep. 

"I'm going to put your dick in my mouth," Zayn told him. "If that's something you're okay with." 

Liam came awake surprisingly quickly at that. "Yeah, that's... Yeah, Zayn."

"Make up for me being a twat and falling asleep on you last night, yeah?"

"No!" Liam protested, leaning up on his elbows sharply. "You don't like, owe me or anything. Last night was just..." 

Zayn surged up to cut Liam off with a kiss. Zayn knew his breath must be kind of awful, but Liam didn't complain. Zayn pulled away. "Last night was just what?"

"It was good," Liam assured him as Zayn raised an eyebrow. "It was more than good. But you were drunk and I don't want you to suck me off if you don't want to." 

Zayn leaned down to press their foreheads together. "God, Liam, of course I want to. I've wanted to for _months_." 

"Oh," Liam said then. "Well. I guess that's alright then." 

"Just alright?" Zayn teased. 

"Good," Liam amended quickly as Zayn winked at him and slithered back down Liam's body to position his mouth over Liam's cock, which was straining against his pants. "Very, very good. I was..." Liam cut himself off, pressing his lips together firmly. 

"You were what?" Zayn asked, distracted as he pressed open mouthed kisses against Liam's clothed dick. Jesus, this was going to be good. 

"I was afraid you wouldn't want me when you were sober," Liam confessed, voice small. 

Zayn pulled away from Liam's cock at the words and Liam made a tiny noise of protest. "Liam, no. Fuck no. I want you when I'm sober _and_ when I'm drunk. I want to rip your clothes off and have my way with you every time you come into the store. I daydream about sucking your dick in class, Liam. Trust me when I say that I want this. Very much." 

"Okay," Liam smiled down at him. "And just so you know? The wanting is very much mutual."

"Good," Zayn said. "Now, if we're done talking about our feelings, I'd really like to get your pants off."

"We're done talking," Liam said quickly, hands coming down to help Zayn tug off his pants. 

"You're clean, yeah?" Zayn asked, hovering just over Liam's cock. 

"Yeah, yes," Liam spat out. "I got tested after Dave and I broke up and I haven't been with anyone since."

Zayn nodded before taking Liam into his mouth, making sure to run his tongue over his lips a few times to smooth the way a bit. He took just the head into his mouth, circling his tongue around it and pulling a gasp out of Liam. Zayn tongued at the slit as he slid a bit further down Liam's dick, one hand coming up to grasp the base of Liam's cock as the other hand found purchase on Liam's thigh. 

"Zayn," Liam's voice warned. "Don't tease."

Zayn hollowed his cheeks and sucked as he slid back up Liam's cock to pull off completely. 

"You're a bastard," Liam told him as Zayn chuckled and licked up the vein on the underside of Liam's cock. He licked at the base until it was wet enough that he could pump Liam's cock through his fist with no problem. Then he took Liam back in his mouth. 

"Jesus," Liam let out on a sigh and Zayn hummed in agreement, the vibration making Liam arch up off the bed. 

Zayn works the crown of Liam’s cock, tonguing at the slit, making Liam hiss. He tightens his lips around the head, sucking while swirling his tongue around the tip. Liam arches up off the bed again and Zayn can tell that he’s trying to keep himself from bucking his hips up into Zayn’s mouth. 

Zayn pulled off quickly then to gasp out, “Yes, that. Do that, Liam. Fuck my mouth. C’mon. Know you want to. Want you to.” 

“Fuck,” Liam groaned out, hands coming down to tangle in Zayn’s hair. He tugged at the strands and Zayn keened high and in the back of his throat. Liam just smirked at him. “You really gonna let me fuck your mouth?”

“I’m going to let you do whatever you want to me,” Zayn answered honestly. “But we can start with that, yeah.” 

“How about you stop talking now?” Liam pulled his hands out of Zayn’s hair to brace himself up on his elbows. “Or I’m going to end up finishing before you even get my cock back in your mouth.” 

“That wouldn’t be all bad,” Zayn mused even as he repositioned himself over Liam’s dick. “You could always come on my face. That could be hot.”

Liam groaned, hips bucking up so that his dick rubbed against Zayn’s chin. “Please, _please_ stop talking now.” 

Zayn just grinned and returned to using his mouth on Liam’s cock, swallowing when Liam finally came down his throat. 

“Come here,” Liam commanded, pulling at Zayn’s shoulders even as his body shook through the last rolls of orgasm. “Zayn, come on…”

Zayn let Liam pull him up and crush their lips together. Zayn moaned as Liam licked the taste of himself out of Zayn’s mouth. 

“Wanna see you get yourself off,” Liam muttered against Zayn’s lips. 

“Yeah.” Zayn gasped. “Yes, yeah. _Liam_.” 

Liam rolled, flipping them over so Zayn was lying on his back beneath Liam. “Come on, baby, come for me.” Liam grabbed Zayn’s wrist, bringing Zayn’s hand up to his mouth and licking at Zayn’s palm until it was wet. He pushed Zayn’s hand back down his body, closing it around Zayn’s dick. 

Zayn groaned at the feeling and started stroking himself, panting loudly as Liam sucked kisses into his neck and tweaked one of his nipples. Zayn stroked himself faster when Liam pulled back to sit across Zayn’s thighs and just watch. 

“There you go, sweetheart. Just like that, yeah? Does it feel good?” Liam nearly purred at Zayn. 

“Fuck, yes,” Zayn hissed. “So good, Li.” 

“Want you to come, darling. Can you come for me?”

“Yes, yes, yes…” Zayn’s voice had never sounded so broken, he was sure. Fuck, Liam was going to _ruin_ him. 

Liam tanged his hand with Zayn’s on Zayn’s cock then, helping him to jerk himself off. Zayn panted as Liam squeezed their hands at the top of Zayn’s cock and then Zayn was coming. 

“There we go, baby,” Liam leaned down to kiss Zayn on the forehead. “God, that was hot.”

Zayn could barely breathe as he came down, but he nodded frantically in agreement with Liam. 

Liam kissed Zayn’s face over and over again, until Zayn laughed and started kissing him back, mouth open and sloppy. Finally, Liam placed a kiss on the tip of Zayn’s nose and pulled away, grabbing tissue off of Zayn’s nightstand and cleaning them both up. “I’m gonna go for a run, yeah? And when I come back maybe we could take a shower together?” 

“Sounds good to me,” Zayn said. “I’m sure Louis has some shorts or something you could borrow. Or there are jogging bottoms in the middle drawer of my dresser.” 

“Cool.” Liam pushed himself out of the bed. Zayn watched appreciatively as Liam stretched and dug through Zayn’s drawers, emerging with a t-shirt that was going to be way to tight on him and jogging bottoms. Liam came back over to the bed and kissed Zayn chastely. “I’ll be back, yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Zayn sighed falling back against the pillows. 

"Don't go back to sleep," Liam intoned from the doorway.

"I'll do as I please," Zayn said, already burying his face into the pillow Liam had been using. It still smelled mostly like Zayn, but there was a trace of Liam now. Zayn tried not to think about the metaphor that was probably hidden in that. 

Liam huffed and left the room, mumbling something about "middle of the morning" and "lazy git" under his breath. 

Not even a minute later, Harry was sprawled out on top of Zayn while Niall sang at the top of his lungs in the doorway. 

"What the fuck?" Zayn shoved Harry off him so he could sit up and glare at them properly. 

"Liam told us to make sure you were up," Harry explained and, Jesus Christ, Zayn lived with a bunch of traitors. "Besides, it's the first day of the new year. You don't want to spend the first day of the new year in bed, do you?" 

Zayn gave Harry an incredulous look. "Have you even met me? That sounds _exactly_ like how I want to spend the first day of the new year. That sounds like how I want to spend every day of this year, actually." 

Harry pouted at him. From the doorway, Niall started glaring, as he always did when someone made Harry unhappy. 

"Fine," Zayn said as he rolled his eyes. "I'll get up. Where's Lou?" 

"Oh, he's still asleep." Harry shrugged as he rolled off of Zayn's bed. "We figured we'd let him sleep in." 

"I thought we didn't play favourites in this flat," Zayn sarcastically quoted one of Harry's best loved things to say. Coincidentally, Harry really only seemed to say it when Louis was paying too much attention to someone or something that wasn't Harry. 

Niall laughed. "He deserves to sleep in after last night."

"Why? What happened?" Zayn asked as he held out a hand, eyes pleading for Harry to get him some pants and a jumper. 

"You happened, you arsehole," Niall told him. "Oh god, poor Liam. We came in about an hour after you guys left the club and Lou knocked on your door just to make sure you guys had actually made it back to the flat and weren't dead in a ditch somewhere. Liam told him to come in and he walked in on you asleep on Liam's chest, come drying in your pants. Because you'd fallen asleep during sex." 

Harry and Niall both burst out laughing and Zayn just sat there, frozen in the middle of pulling the jumper Harry had gotten for him over his head. 

At the look on Zayn's face, Niall's laughter subsided a bit. "Don't worry about it, mate. Happens to Harry all the time."

"Heyyyy," Harry whined in response, but Zayn noticed that he didn't try to deny it. 

"Louis is gonna be fucking insufferable about this," Zayn said finally. 

"I'm quite looking forward to it, actually." Harry grinned at Zayn and Zayn knew he was only half kidding. "You should let him have a little bit of fun at least seeing as he was the one who changed your pants for you. Liam went all red and refused to even look. It was proper cute." 

"Fuck off," Zayn said. He was tempted to pull the covers back over his head and go back to sleep anyways, but he was too awake now. "Is there breakfast?" 

"Yeah, come on." Niall wrapped an arm around Harry's waist and nodded towards the kitchen. "Haz made a full English and everything." 

Zayn scrambled out of bed and followed them across the flat, mortification momentarily forgotten in the face of a good breakfast.

\----

"I hope you made it up to him this morning," were Louis' first words to Zayn that afternoon when he finally woke up and came out into the living room.

"Oh, he more than did," Liam answered for Zayn from the kitchen where he was making tea with Harry. 

"He made it up to him again in the shower, if the sounds were anything to go by." Niall cackled from where he was sprawled out along the couch.

Zayn ignored them all, pretending to be engrossed by the show on the television. 

"How are you going to make it up to me then?" Louis asked as he plopped himself on top of Niall on the couch. 

"I'm not," Zayn told him. "Consider it you paying me back for that party during our sophomore year with that blonde girl. Yeah, I thought so." Zayn added when Louis' eyes went wide at just the mention of that girl who had misread Louis' one night thing with her as a marriage proposal. They hadn't even slept together, just made out in a corner and chatted for a while. 

"Fair enough," said Louis. He turned to Niall after that, demanding the channel on the television be changed. 

Liam and Harry came into the room, balancing cups of tea. Liam handed Louis his, the came over to where Zayn was seated in his chair, handing Zayn a cup and plopping himself down on Zayn’s lap. 

“You’re bigger, you’re supposed to go on the bottom,” Zayn whined. 

“Pretty sure that’s the other way around, mate,” Niall snickered as Harry handed him his tea and sat on the floor beside where Niall’s head was lying on the sofa. 

“Not that it has to be.” Harry put in hastily. “It’s different for everyone. Just do it however you’re comfortable.”

“‘S how it worked with us,” Louis commented primly, shooting Zayn a smug smile which Zayn answered with a glare. Louis sniffed at his tea and raised his eyebrows. “Who made my tea?”

“I did,” Harry answered. Louis beamed at that and sipped at his tea happily. 

“I feel like it should be weirder than it is, hearing you talk about my boyfriend like that,” Liam said thoughtfully as he sipped his own tea. 

“Boyfriend?” Zayn asked, tensing up beneath Liam. 

“Shit!” Liam twisted around so he could face Zayn, careful not to spill his tea all over the place. “Oh god, Zayn. I meant to have this discussion in private.” 

“Boyfriend?” Zayn asked again, and he could barely fight to keep the grin off of his face. He liked seeing Liam squirm though, so he put in a valiant effort. 

“Our little Zaynie’s all grown up!” Louis cooed from the couch. 

Niall laughed because of course he did and Harry added, “Should we ring Zayn’s mum? Let her know to start planning the wedding?”

“Fuck off,” Zayn snapped at his flatmates. He was moving out, he was. Maybe the university had an extra dorm room he could crash in for the next three terms. 

“I mean it, Zayn,” Liam said, ignoring Louis and Harry in favor of studying Zayn’s face intently. “I was going to take you out to dinner and do it all proper, I promise I was. It kind of just slipped out, but would you? Like to be my boyfriend, I mean?” 

“Of course I would,” Zayn answered, setting his mug down on the small table that was set up beside his chair. He took Liam’s mug and set it down next to his. “Of course I want to be your boyfriend.” 

Liam’s smile overtook his whole face and he surged forward, bringing his hands up to cup Zayn’s face as he kissed him thoroughly. Zayn could absolutely get used to this. Liam flicked his tongue against the roof of Zayn’s mouth and Zayn moaned. 

“Take it back to Zayn’s bedroom please,” Niall groaned from the couch. “Wouldn’t want you to get Zayn’s chair dirty. We all know how fond of it he is.” 

Liam pulled back and Zayn pouted up at him. 

“Later.” Liam promised, laughing. “I still want to take you out properly and everything.” 

“Can’t we skip all that and I’ll just suck your dick again?” Zayn didn’t even try to keep his voice down. Harry and Niall could consider it payback and Louis was just collateral damage. 

“Stop!” Louis covered one of his ears with the hand that wasn’t holding his tea. “Stop right now! Niall and Harry are bad enough, don’t you fucking start, Malik.”

Zayn just grinned at Louis who glared and sipped his tea.

\----

Being Liam’s boyfriend was a lot like being Liam’s friend, except that now whenever he got the urge to lick Liam, he could. And he did.

"You're disgusting," Liam told Zayn, pushing him away from where he was trying to lick Liam's cheek. 

"No," Zayn protested, "I'm horny and I want you."

"Jesus, Zayn." Liam gaped at Zayn while winding his scarf around his neck. "I have class."

"Skip it," Zayn said, sliding one of his thighs between Liam's. "Come back to bed with me." 

"I can't," Liam groaned, sounding very much like he wanted to. "It's the first class of the new term." 

"So? Drop out."

Liam laughed, buttoning up his coat. "And do what? Lie around your flat all day without clothes on in case you get the urge?" 

"Yes," Zayn said. "That sounds perfect. But if you're not going to wear clothes, you have to stay in my bedroom."

"Why? Because of everyone in this flat's inability to go without touching each other for more than two minutes?" 

"Don't pretend like you're not just as bad now," Zayn scoffed at his boyfriend. "And yes, but I'm talking more about Harry's obsession with your dick." 

"He does touch it quite a bit," Liam said thoughtfully. "Those he's usually causing more pain than pleasure. It is kind of hot though." 

"I think I liked you better when you thought how much we touched each other was weird."

"You like me just fine now." Liam didn't hesitate to tell Zayn. "Now give me a kiss so I can go."

Zayn reached out and grabbed Liam's scarf, using it to pull him into a deep kiss. Zayn curled his tongue into Liam's mouth, turning the kiss dirty. 

Liam pulled away, the look on his face letting Zayn know that Liam was onto him and what he was trying to do. "Goodbye, Zayn." 

"Are you coming to the shop after class?" 

Liam shook his head. "I have a shift at the aquarium and then another class. And I promised Mum I would come over for dinner. She says she's glad I've found such good friends, but that I technically still live with her and she'd like to see me." 

Liam had basically been living in the flat with Zayn, Louis, Niall, and Harry since the new year. He had to go home every few days to pick up clothes or a DVD he wanted (usually when Zayn and the boys went into work), but he'd spent almost every night at the flat in Zayn's bed (and Louis' bed one night, oddly enough, though all they did was talk). It had been nice. It was still nice. Liam fit into life at the flat the same way he fit into the rest of their lives: seamlessly. 

"Tell your mum I said hello, then," Zayn said. "And to give you back soon." 

Liam chuckled, pressed a chaste kiss to Zayn's lips, and left, promising to pass along Zayn's message. 

Zayn headed into the kitchen with every intent of making himself a cup of tea and going back to bed until he had to be up in a few hours for his own class. 

“I thought you didn’t have class until one today?” Louis asked when he came into the kitchen a few minutes later, just as the kettle started to whistle. Louis grinned at Zayn and Zayn rolled his eyes but reached to get Louis’ favorite mug out of the cabinet and put it beside his own. He poured them both tea, putting sugar in his and ignoring the look he got from Louis for his actions. 

“Liam had class this morning,” Zayn answered as he set their mugs down on the table. They both sat. 

“So you got up early to say goodbye? You’re so cute, Zaynie.” 

“Fuck off, Lou.” 

“It’s nice to see you so happy. And Liam, too.” Louis’ voice was warm and sincere. 

Zayn just smiled, sipping his tea to hide the softness of it.

“Is he a better lay than me?” Louis leaned across the table to demand, eyebrows disappearing under his fringe. 

The truth was, Zayn and Liam hadn’t had sex yet. They’d done almost everything but, but they hadn’t really had sex yet. Louis didn’t know that though.

“I’m not answering that.” Zayn laughed, picking up his mug and heading for his room. He wanted to climb back into bed while it was still warm from him and Liam. 

“You shit!” Louis called after him. “How very dare you.” 

“Goodnight, Lou,” Zayn said from his bedroom doorway. “Have a good class, I’ll see you at work.” 

“I’m not speaking to you,” Louis told him. “And Harry’s tea is better than yours.” 

Zayn just shut his door in response, leaving his tea to grow cold on the nightstand as he burrowed into his bed and went back to sleep.

\----

Zayn: _bored_  
Liam: _i’m on the train nooooow be there soon_  
Zayn: _don’t want to wait, want you now_  
Liam: _oh yeah? ;)_  
Zayn: _yes_  
Zayn: _been thinking about you all day_  
Liam: _what were you thinking about?_  
Zayn: _you spread out on my bed_  
Liam: _yeah_  
Zayn: _touching yourself while i get undressed, like that first night, remember?_  
Liam: _i remember_  
Liam: _surprized you do tho_  
Zayn: _remember everything w you_  
Liam: _so what happens now that your naked?_  
Zayn: _what do you want?_  
Zayn: _because i still want to ride you_  
Liam: _jesus zayn_  
Zayn: _yeah you’d make me get myself ready for you_  
Liam: _yes fuck yes_  
Liam: _i’d have you start off nice and slow, know how you like that_  
Zayn: _yeah. what next?_  
Liam: _let you start speeding up_  
Liam: _tell you to use two fingers_  
Zayn: _fuck yes, i’d be so desperate for it. for you._  
Liam: _you always are it’s really hot_  
Zayn: _shit hang on_  
Liam: _are you touching urself? are you getting urself ready for me?_  
Zayn: _want you to fuck me so bad_  
Liam: _i can do that_  
Zayn: _gonna open myself up for you and let you fuck me until i can’t walk_  
Liam: _babe_  
Liam: _im getting off the train now think you can wait for me_  
Zayn: _want you to leave bruises and marks_  
Zayn: _want everyone to know i’m yours_  
Zayn: _gonna come just thinking about your fingers wrapped around my wrists, holding me down_  
Liam: _fuck zayn im still like 10 mins away dont u dare_  
Zayn: _i’ll make it up to you later ;)_

\----

Zayn was sitting on the couch with Niall when Liam stormed into the flat.

“Get up.” Liam nearly growled at Zayn. 

Zayn smirked, still basking in his post-orgasmic bliss. The orgasm would have been better with Liam, but Zayn couldn’t wait. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he’d spent most of the day thinking about Liam spread out in his bed. Or holding himself over Zayn. Or fucking Zayn against a wall. They’d been together for almost three months now and they still hadn’t fucked properly. Zayn was getting impatient. “I’m quite comfortable here.” 

Liam just nodded sharply before crossing the living room and entering Zayn’s bedroom. 

“Someone’s in trouble.” Niall sing-songed at Zayn. 

“God, I hope so,” Zayn said, springing up off the couch to follow Liam. Zayn found Liam stripping out of his jacket and jumper. Zayn closed the door to his bedroom as Liam pulled his shirt off.

“I’m mad at you,” Liam told him. “Go lie facedown on the bed.” 

Zayn obeyed without hesitation, butterflies and arousal both stirring in his stomach. Liam came over to the bed wearing only his boxers. He climbed on the bed, straddling Zayn’s thighs, the bulge of his cock grinding down against Zayn’s ass as Liam leaned forward to punctuate each of his words with a kiss to Zayn’s spine. “You’re. So. Impatient.” 

Whining, Zayn pushed back against Liam’s cock, but he couldn’t get much leverage with the way that Liam had him pinned. 

“I could have made it so good for you, angel,” Liam said into Zayn’s skin and Zayn grew hotter. He thought that the more time he and Liam spent together, the less it would feel like he was burning up from the inside out every time they touched. Zayn had never been so wrong in his life. “I could have made it so, _so_ good for you. But you went ahead without me.” 

“Liam,” Zayn groaned. 

Liam kissed his way down the rest of Zayn’s spine, lifting off to strip Zayn of the jogging bottoms he had pulled on earlier when he went to go join Niall on the couch, leaving Zayn naked. Liam moaned as he positioned himself on his knees in between Zayn’s thighs, nose pressed just beneath Zayn’s ear. “God, you still smell like sex.” 

"Came so hard," Zayn admitted breathlessly. "Thinking about you fucking me." 

"I'm sure you did." Liam sounded almost placating which meant that Zayn was not going to like whatever came out of Liam's mouth next. "But you went ahead without me so now you'll have to wait a little longer to be properly fucked." 

"Liam..."

"Ten minutes, Zayn. I was ten minutes away." 

"Not fair," Zayn whined as Liam pulled away from where he was pressed along Zayn's back. 

"Maybe next time." Liam breathed into the dimples at the bottom of Zayn's spine. "This time, I'm going to make you wish that you had waited those ten minutes." 

"I already do," Zayn grumbled into the pillow his head was resting on. A second later, he was arching up off the bed as Liam's tongue flicked at his hole. "Liam, _fuck_." 

"Nope, not today." Liam's voice was smug. 

“You’re not funny.” Zayn’s voice went breathy over Liam’s name as Liam pressed up against Zayn’s hole with his tongue again. 

Liam didn’t respond to that, too busy licking over Zayn’s hole, tongue pressed flat. Zayn was pretty sure he was going to die. He clenched and unclenched his hands in the sheets, hips shifting to grind back against Liam’s tongue. 

“Come on, Liam,” Zayn whined. “Harder.” 

Zayn thought Liam would ignore him, that Liam would drag this out. But, Jesus Christ, was he wrong. At his pleading, Liam used his hands to spread Zayn’s ass, giving him better access. Liam tongued at Zayn’s hole, pushing just the tip of it past the rim and Zayn was going to die. He absolutely was going to die. He worked his hips, trying to push back onto Liam’s face and get friction for his cock against the sheets at the same time. 

Liam pulled away again and Zayn panted into the pillow, turned his head sharply to look over his shoulder at Liam.

“Hi, love.” Liam smiled at Zayn while stroking himself. Zayn wasn’t sure if he wanted to kiss him or punch him more in this moment. “Wanna do something for me, baby?” 

“If it gets your mouth back on me, yes,” Zayn hissed. 

Liam just grinned and pushed at one of Zayn’s legs, hitching it higher on the bed. “Hold your leg for me so you’re nice and open, alright, darling?” 

Zayn did as Liam said, hooking his knee over his forearm, spreading himself wide for Liam, who pressed the tip of his tongue back into Zayn almost immediately. Zayn let out a long breathy moan, not even caring that Niall could probably hear him from the living room. 

Liam pulled out a few moments later, just when Zayn was on the urge of coming. Zayn really wanted to know what he had done in a past life to deserve a boyfriend who did this to him in this one. Liam shifted, adjusting himself so that his cock was pressed into the cleft of Zayn’s ass and he started thrusting. 

“Liam, shit, Liam,” Zayn gasped. “ _Li_.” 

“Love it when you say my name like that,” Liam admitted as he panted into the nape of Zayn’s neck. “Love it when you say my name when you come. You gonna come for me now, baby?” 

“You first,” Zayn grunted out, even as Liam’s weight across his thighs and arse pressed his cock against the sheets in the most delicious way. 

“But you were so eager to get off before,” Liam taunted, thrusting roughly and letting out a sharp exhale. 

“Want you…” Zayn gritted his teeth, trying to stave off his orgasm. “Want you to come first.” 

Liam huffed and his hand came up to cover the hand of Zayn’s that wasn’t still holding himself open. Zayn spread his fingers so that Liam’s fell between them, as close to laced together as they could get in this position. 

“Gonna come all over you, sweetheart,” Liam promised, voice low in Zayn’s ear. “Sound good?” 

Zayn couldn’t do anything except swallow and nod. He could barely think, Liam felt so good, pressing up against his body. He felt Liam’s cock catch on his rim for just a second as he rolled his hips and Zayn keened, high in his throat as Liam came, spilling across the top of Zayn’s arse and his lower back. Without even taking a breath, Liam moved again, placing himself between Zayn’s thighs again, reaching forward to pull Zayn up and set him across his thighs, Zayn’s back to Liam’s chest. Liam’s hand circled Zayn’s cock and Liam jerked him off quickly.

Zayn slumped back against Liam, his head lolling onto Liam’s shoulder. “I can’t wait for you to fuck me.” 

Liam laughed and reached for a corner of the sheet so he could clean them up.

\----

It happened on a Friday evening. Zayn was leaning back against Liam’s chest as they reclined on the couch, watching a movie. Louis was in the kitchen making more popcorn and Niall was in his room, finishing up a paper he had due the next week. The flat was as peaceful as it ever got when more than one of them was awake at a time when Harry came storming in.

“Where is he?” Harry demanded of Liam and Zayn as he ripped off his scarf and toed off his boots, letting his bookbag drop to the floor with a loud clunk. Zayn hoped Harry’s laptop hadn’t been in that bag. “Where’s Niall?” 

“I’m right here, babe, what’s up?” Niall came out of his room, smiling the way he always did when Harry came home. His smile dropped just a bit, however, when he saw the way Harry’s jaw was set. 

“I had an interesting talk with Josh today,” Harry spat at Niall as he tugged his coat off, letting it join his bag on the floor. 

Niall visibly paled at that and Zayn sat up as the tension in the room skyrocketed. Louis poked his head out of the kitchen, no witty remark forthcoming as he saw how angry Harry was. 

“Haz…”

“Were you even going to tell me?!” Harry yelled. “Fuck, Niall. Were you even going to tell me?” 

“Of course I was!” Niall exclaimed. “I was just waiting for the right time.” 

“Don’t give me that,” Harry said, tears springing to his eyes. “Don’t lie to me. Were you going to tell me? Or were you just going to let me believe that they passed you over?” 

Niall hesitated for a second then swallowed and said, “I didn’t know if I wanted to tell you.” 

“I’m your boyfriend.” Harry’s voice sounded unbelievably hurt and it took everything Zayn not to leap up off the couch and pull him into a cuddle. If it had been anyone but Niall making Harry sound like this, Zayn would have punched them in the face already. “You’re supposed to want to tell me everything.” 

“I do!” Niall sounded desperate and Zayn realized his feelings went the other way as well. “I just already knew what you would say and I… Fuck, Haz, I didn’t want to hear you tell me to go.” 

“You should go! It’s an amazing opportunity. Why are you just letting this go? You might never get another chance like this.” 

“I can’t leave you, okay?!” Niall’s voice was fierce now, loud and sure. “I’m not leaving you.”

“So I’m the reason you’re not going?”

“You’re part of the reason I’m not going, yeah.”

Harry squared his shoulders, the set of his jaw determined even as tears streamed down his face. “Well, you can take me out of the equation.” 

“Harry…” 

“No! That’s it, Niall. If you can make choices without me, then I can make choices without you. And I’m choosing to break up with you.” 

"You don't mean that." Niall's voice shook as he pleaded with Harry. "You can't mean that." 

"Well I do," Harry spat at Niall and Zayn hadn't even known Harry could sound this cruel. "And at least I have the decency to tell you about it." 

Harry had apparently said everything he had to say because with that he stalked off into Louis’ room, slamming the door behind him. 

“Lou…” Niall turned to Louis with pleading eyes. “Louis, please.” 

“I got him, I got him,” Louis said, pausing to kiss Niall on the forehead briefly. “It’ll be okay.” Louis disappeared into his room after Harry. Zayn could hear Harry crying when Louis opened the door just enough to slip in. 

Niall walked over and slid down the wall in front of Louis’ door, holding his head in his hands. 

“I think I’ll make some tea,” Liam said, nudging Zayn towards Niall. 

“Thanks.” Zayn leaned over and gave Liam a quick kiss before going over to sit on the floor beside Niall. “Want to tell me what all that was about?” Zayn asked gently after a minute. 

“I didn’t think it was a big deal,” Niall said, looking up at Zayn. His eyes were watery and God, Zayn had never wanted to see Niall upset like this. 

“Didn’t think what was a big deal?”

“You know that internship in Los Angeles? The one my professor insisted I apply to?” Niall wouldn’t meet Zayn’s eyes, playing with his own hands. “Well, I got it. I got the letter about a month ago saying that they wanted me to come to LA and intern in sound design at Real Time Records.” 

“Niall!” Zayn’s smile filled out his whole face. “That’s amazing!” 

“I mean, yeah.” Niall shrugged. “But I turned it down. And then didn't tell Harry."

“Why?”

Niall sighed heavily, breath catching and Zayn was sure he was going to start crying. But Niall took a minute, pulled himself together, and said, “I don’t want to go to LA. It was bad enough having to leave Ireland and leave my family behind. I’m not leaving another family behind and I’m certainly not leaving Harry behind. I knew that if I told him, he'd tell me to go. But I didn't want to go and I didn't want him to think it was because of him. He'd never forgive himself if he thought he was the reason I didn't go to LA. Things didn't really go according to plan, as you can tell."

“It’s a great opportunity, Niall,” Zayn whispered. 

“I know it is,” Niall said. “Of course I know it is. But it’s a two year internship with the potential for job placement afterwards. And who knows how long it would be from then until I could get transferred back to the UK or get a new job over here. I can't ask Harry to wait for me for that long and I won't ask him to uproot his life and go with me." 

"He would, you know," Zayn said. "He would follow you anywhere." 

"And I would do the same for him," Niall answered without hesitating. "But I could never ask that of him. Besides, you and Louis and Liam are here and I'm pretty fond of you guys." 

Zayn reached out and twined his fingers with Niall's. "You might never get an opportunity like this again." 

Niall nodded. "I know that. But that doesn't mean I won't get other opportunities. Ones here, closer to home."

"I love you, bro," Zayn said. "I don't think you should have kept this from Harry, but I think you did it for the right reasons." 

"Thanks, man." Niall gave Zayn a small smile.

Liam interrupted then, smiling apologetically as he handed Niall his tea before ducking into Louis' room to give Louis and Harry their tea. 

"How is he? Is he okay?" Niall asked Liam as soon as he emerged from the room. 

"Louis' taking care of him," Liam told him. "He's still upset but he'll be okay. Just give him some time." 

Niall nodded and shifted around on the floor as his mobile started vibrating in his pocket. "It's Josh. I should take this. Thank you, guys. For everything. For not judging me and telling me I'm stupid." 

"You're not stupid," Liam said. 

Niall smiled and answered his mobile. Zayn can hear Josh's muffled warnings and apologies from where he's still sitting next to Niall on the floor. 

"Yeah, man, I know Harry knows. Yeah he's fucking home,” Niall said. “No, I'm not mad. Listen..." 

Liam held out a hand to Zayn. "Your tea is in the kitchen with mine."

Zayn took Liam's hand, letting Liam pull him up off the floor. He followed Liam into the kitchen, hopping up on the counter when they got in the room. Liam fetched their tea from where he'd left it by the hob and came to stand between Zayn's legs, handing him his mug.

"How much of that did you hear?" Zayn asked as he sipped his tea. 

Liam took a gulp of his own tea and shrugged, one of his hands coming to rest on Zayn's thigh. "Pretty much all of it. It's not a big flat. I think Harry heard most of it, too, if that makes a difference." 

"I'm not sure if anything will make a difference right now," Zayn answered honestly. "But they'll figure it out. They're Niall and Harry. I've never met two people who belong together as much as the two of them." 

"I know what you mean," Liam said. "They just have this... magnetism with each other." 

"They'll sort it out," Zayn said and he hated that it almost sounded like a question this time. 

Liam tilted his forehead against Zayn's, his voice sure when he answered, "They'll sort it out."

\----

Liam, Zayn, and Niall were on the couch - Niall curled up with his head in Zayn’s lap - absently watching the television when Louis came out of his room. Niall sat up so fast he almost hit Zayn in the jaw with his head.

“How is he? Is he alright?” Niall asked Louis, biting his lip nervously. 

Louis didn’t answer, choosing instead to haul Niall off of the couch and into a hug. “You’re a fucking twat for keeping it from him, but I understand why you did it. That’s probably the only reason I’m not punching you in the face right now.” 

“That, and you love me.” Niall tried to joke but everyone could hear the question he was really asking. 

“That too,” Louis answered without hesitation. 

“How is he?” Niall asked again after another minute of being hugged by Louis. Louis released Niall with a sigh, falling into Zayn’s chair and Niall sat on the couch again. Zayn rubbed comforting circles into Niall’s back. 

“He’s okay,” Louis told them. “He’s asleep now. Cried himself out, I think. He thinks you don’t trust him. That you don’t love him enough to trust him with the important stuff.” 

“You told him that wasn’t true, right?” Niall’s eyes were wide with panic and Zayn tugged him closer to himself. 

“Of course I did,” Louis responded, but he lacked the usual scathing tone that he broke out whenever he thought one of them asked something particularly dumb. “And deep down he knows that what he’s saying isn’t true, but he’s hurt.”

Niall curled in on himself, voice thick. “I hurt him.”

“And you’ll fix it.” Louis didn’t leave for argument, not that he would have gotten any. Niall was nodding so emphatically that Zayn thought he would give himself a headache. 

“I think we should all go to bed,” Liam suggested. “We can sort all of this tomorrow when everyone’s calmed down and had a good night’s sleep.” 

“That,” Louis pointed a finger at Liam, “is a fantastic idea, Mr. Payne. Very sound advice.” 

Liam rolled his eyes, but giggled. They all got up, said their goodnights, and retreated to their respective bedrooms.

“Thank you,” Zayn said to Liam when they were alone. “For tonight.” 

“I barely did anything,” Liam protested, stripping out of his shirt. 

Zayn stripped out of his own shirt while also shrugging at Liam. “You were here. For me, for Niall. And for Harry and Lou. That’s what counts.” 

“I wish there was more I could do.” 

“They’ve got to sort this out themselves.” Zayn sighed. “I wish we could help too, but this is something they have to do.”

“I know.” 

They climbed into bed then, Liam spooning up behind Zayn. Zayn wiggled back, pressing in even closer to Liam. Zayn was asleep within minutes, exhausted from watching Niall and Harry fall apart.

\----

It was only a few hours later when Zayn was shaken awake.

"This flat better be on fire," Zayn warned, not opening his eyes. 

"Zayn, please." 

Zayn opened his eyes and looked at Niall, who was standing beside Zayn's bed. Zayn could just barely make out Niall's form in the darkness of the room. 

"Niall?" Zayn reached out to tangle his hand in Niall's shirt and pull him closer. "What's up?" 

"Can I sleep in here?" Niall asked sheepishly. "I can't sleep in my room without Harry." 

"What's going on?" Liam asked groggily, shifting against Zayn's side. 

"Shit, I'm sorry," Niall apologized. "I forgot Liam was staying over. It's fine, I can crash on the couch or something." 

"No," Zayn protested, not releasing Niall's shirt. "It's fine, you can fit." 

"Come in the middle, we'll both give you a cuddle," Liam added.

Even in the dark, Zayn could see the look of relief that crossed Niall's face.

"Thank you," Niall said as he climbed over Zayn and under the duvet between Zayn and Liam. 

Zayn rolled over so he could face Niall, cuddling up to him. Zayn reached across Niall to clasp hands with Liam, resting their joined hands on Niall's chest. He kissed Niall on the cheek. "Of course." 

Niall just nodded and drifted off to sleep, cocooned by Zayn and Liam. Liam squeezed Zayn's hand gently before falling back to sleep himself. It took Zayn a while longer, but he finally closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

\----

If the night before had been weird with Niall and Harry sleeping in separate beds, it was nothing compared to when they woke up that morning.

Zayn was woken up by Niall thrashing and whimpering in his sleep, Liam already up and trying to wake him. 

"Niall? Niall!" Liam shook him gently, repeating his name over and over again. Niall woke with a start, sitting up quickly and almost dislodging Zayn from the bed. Liam sat up as well, wrapping his arms around Niall, pulling him against his chest as Niall breathed through the sobs that wracked his body. "Shhhhh, you're alright. It was just a nightmare, I've got you."

"It wasn't just a nightmare." Niall's laugh was self-deprecating. "I dreamed Harry was mad at me, that we'd broken up and he wasn't speaking to me. And that's real."

"It's going to be okay, Niall." Liam soothed, his eyes sad when they met Zayn's over Niall's shoulder. 

"It's really fucking not," Niall scoffed. 

"Why don't we go get some breakfast?" Zayn suggested, rubbing Niall's back as reassuringly as he could. "I'll make you some tea, yeah?" 

"Tea isn't the answer to everything," Niall grumbled. "'M not Louis."

Zayn and Liam both barked out laughs, which brought out a small smile from Niall. 

They made their way into the kitchen all together to find Harry and Louis already there, Harry standing at the hob as the kettle whistled. 

“Morning,” Harry greeted them, smiling at Liam and Zayn and ignoring Niall completely. Niall let out a small whimper from where he was pressed up against Liam’s back, head tucked against Liam’s shoulder blade. “I made you both some tea.” 

With that, he turned and left the kitchen, slamming the door to Louis’ room behind him. Zayn went over to the stove and picked up the kettle to pour Niall a cup of tea as well, only to find that the kettle was completely empty. They’d all been making five cups of tea for months now, there was even a mark on the kettle that told them all how much to fill it to make five cups, which meant that Harry had purposefully only heated up enough tea for four cups. 

“It’s okay, you can have my tea,” Zayn said, heart breaking as he watched Niall reach the same conclusion he just had. 

“I’m not really in the mood for tea.” Niall pulled away from where Liam was trying to tuck him under his arm. 

“Niall…” Louis went to stop him. 

“It’s fine,” Niall said, backing out of the kitchen. “I think I’m just gonna go to Josh’s for a while. Get out of the flat.” 

“You don’t have to go.” Louis reached out to run a hand down Niall’s arm. 

Niall laughed a bit and backed all the way out of the kitchen. “I think I do.” 

The kitchen fell silent as they listened to Niall put on his coat and shoes and close the door of the flat behind him as he left. 

“Fuck,” Louis said vehemently. “Fuck.” 

“Yeah,” Zayn added, sipping his tea just to give his hands something to do. “You said it.”

\----

Niall and Harry had been broken up for two weeks and a day when Zayn told Liam he was in love with him.

“You should come by the aquarium today.” Liam tugged a shirt on, which was one of Zayn’s least favorite sights in the world. Especially because it was Saturday. Saturday was for cuddling and then going out and getting drunk. Or at least that what it was _supposed_ to be. Liam worked on Saturdays though, so there were always significantly less cuddles than Zayn would have liked. 

“Won’t you be busy telling small children all about how sharks can eat them in one bite?” 

Liam just laughed, eyes going crinkly and soft and yeah, _significantly_ less cuddles than Zayn would have liked. “Come by right before closing. We’ll have the place pretty much to ourselves. We can grab some food in the city afterwards. Make a proper date of it.” 

“Saturdays are for sleeping, Liam,” Zayn protested, but he was smiling so he knew Liam was going to take him about as seriously as he deserved. 

“I thought Sundays were for sleeping,” Liam teased, climbing back onto to the bed to straddle Zayn’s hips. He leaned in and kissed Zayn chastely. 

“They are,” Zayn said as he chased after Liam’s lips for another kiss. “And so are Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays…” 

“I get it.” Liam laughed as he got off of Zayn to finish getting dressed. “You’re a lazy bastard.” 

“Don’t be mean, Liam.” Zayn buried his head under the covers so Liam wouldn’t see him smiling. It was hard not to smile whenever Liam did anything. He just made Zayn so fucking happy, it was Louis’ favorite thing to tease him about. 

“I’ll meet you around seven then?” Liam asked after shuffling about trying to, presumably, get his trousers on. 

Zayn poked just his eyes out from under the covers to meet Liam’s gaze. “I’ll be there.” 

“Good,” Liam said, coming over to kiss Zayn on the forehead in goodbye. “And I’ll make sure to protect you from all the big scary sea monsters we have on exhibit.” 

“My hero,” Zayn grumbled as Liam let out another laugh and left for work, closing Zayn’s door behind him. 

Zayn stretched out in his bed and was just contemplating falling back to sleep when his mobile buzzed. 

Harry: _i saw li leave. can i come in?_

Zayn: _yeah haz, come on in_

Zayn’s door opened less than a minute later, Harry poking his head in. He had dark circles under his eyes, ones that really only appeared when he was particularly upset or stressed. Zayn knew Harry hadn’t been sleeping much since he’d called it off with Niall, even less now that Niall had started spending most nights at Josh’s flat. 

“What’s up, man?” Zayn asked, holding up the duvet in invitation. Harry smiled at that and crawled into bed with Zayn, resting his head on Zayn’s chest and tangling their legs together. 

“Just wanted to see how you were doing,” Harry said. “I’ve missed you.” 

“I see you literally everyday, Haz.” Zayn chuckled, hand coming up to tangle in Harry’s curls and stroke his head, the way Zayn knew he liked. 

“I know that.” Harry bit at Zayn’s collarbone. “But things have just been… weird.” 

And Harry wasn’t wrong. The flat felt weirdly empty without Niall in it. Harry was still staying in Louis’ room so the door to the middle room remained firmly closed at all times, unless Harry had to get a shirt or something. There was no loud music to block out the sound of Niall and Harry having sex, there was no Niall laughing at something stupid that Louis had said, there was no Niall telling Zayn about his day. 

The flat felt weirdly empty with just Harry in it. He was much quieter these days, not going out as much, choosing to hole himself up in Louis’ room with tea or cheap alcohol. He went to class and went to work, shoulders always tensing when Niall would enter his line of sight. 

Work was absolutely awful. Harry and Niall only interacted when necessary and even then it was stilted. Louis took to hanging in the shelves with Niall while Zayn entertained Harry at the front. They’d stopped going out on Wednesday nights because it would have been too awkward, they could all see that. Things were just off and there was nothing Zayn could really do to fix it. 

“They have been a bit weird,” Zayn agreed. “But we’ll sort it.” 

“Yeah.” Harry said. There was a long pause and Zayn could tell that Harry was gathering up his courage to say something. When Harry finally did speak, he spoke so quietly Zayn almost missed it. “I miss him so much, Zayn.” 

“Harry…” 

“And I know that I could fix it,” Harry went on, hands clenching and unclenching in the t-shirt Zayn had worn to bed. “I know that all I have to do is text him and he’ll come home to me but he really hurt me. He _lied_ to me and I don’t want to be with someone who lies to me.” 

“He thought he was doing the easiest thing for both of you,” Zayn said, voice neutral. He and Louis had talked about it the night after Niall and Harry had first broken up. They’d agreed to not take sides in this at all. For all the nights that Harry spent in Louis’ bed, Louis got lunch with Niall or sent Niall fifty snapchats in a day. For all the times Zayn went out to dinner with Niall, he made Harry a cup of tea without being asked or proofread a paper for him. 

“Well, he wasn’t.” Harry hiccuped into Zayn’s chest and Zayn could tell he was trying to keep from crying. “I don’t want him to feel like he has to keep anything from me, Zayn. Especially not something that important.” 

Zayn stayed silent, still stroking Harry’s hair soothingly. 

“Can you…” Harry stopped. “Can you ask him to come home? Please? I just want to see him again. I want him to be living here, with _us_ , not with Josh. I want him closer.” 

“I think you should text him.” Zayn reasoned with Harry. “You should be the one to tell him to come home, Harry.” 

“I know I should be, but I need more time. But I don’t like him so far away.” 

“Okay,” Zayn murmured. “Okay, I can text him, sure. I’ll bring him home, okay?” 

“Okay,” Harry agreed. “Thank you.” 

They laid there in silence for a few more minutes before Harry started talking again. 

“That’s not what I came in here to talk about though,” Harry said. “That kind of just slipped out. I came in here to give you this.” 

He wiggled around for a minute, reaching into the pocket of the jogging bottoms he was wearing and pulled out a small, gold key, which he placed on Zayn’s chest. 

“What is it?” Zayn asked. 

“Louis had the spare key copied. We were thinking you might give it to Liam.” Harry shrugged. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but he practically lives here already so we figured we might as well. Niall thought maybe you’d like to be the one to give it to him?” 

Zayn swallowed around the lump in his throat as he thought about Harry, who was broken apart and barely holding it together without Niall, talking to Louis about having a key made for Liam and having Zayn give it to him. He thought about Louis telling Niall about the key and Niall suggesting that Zayn get to give it to Liam, give the key some weight.

Sometimes Zayn didn’t want to move out. Sometimes Zayn loved his friends more than he would ever be able to put into words. 

Zayn reached up with his free hand and closed his fingers around the key, cool against his palm. “Thanks, Hazza. Thank you.” 

Harry just nodded and started to drift off, Zayn’s hand still rubbing at his scalp. Zayn felt himself starting to fall back asleep as well, the key starting to grow warm in his hand.

\----

Zayn texted Niall while he was on the train to meet Liam.

Zayn: _hazza wants you to come home_  
Niall: _he does ?_  
Zayn: _he says he still needs time but that he wants you to come back to the flat_  
Zayn: _he misses you_  
Niall: _i miss him too. fuck i miss him_  
Zayn: _i know_  
Zayn: _so will you come home? you can stay in my room with me and liam still if you want_  
Niall: _i’ll think about it_  
Niall: _tell him i’m thinking about it yeah ? and that i love him_

Zayn sighed and thumbed out of his conversation with Niall as the train halted at Zayn’s stop. He walked the few blocks to the aquarium where Liam worked. He opened the door to let an overactive group of primary schoolers out, smiling sympathetically at the two women who were trying to balance gift bags and party favors while trying to wrangle all the children. Liam was waiting just inside the door for him. 

“Hi!” Liam greeted him, grinning brightly. He reached out and ran the back of his knuckles down the side of Zayn’s face. Zayn leaned into the touch, but would deny it to his deathbed if Louis ever asked. Liam leaned in to give Zayn a quick kiss, then shot a look over his shoulder at the girl working the ticketing booth. “You didn’t see me do that. I’m definitely not kissing my boyfriend on the job, right?”

The girl just giggled and made an “x” over her heart, then mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. 

“You’re a star, bless you,” Liam said to her as he grabbed Zayn’s hand and tugged him past the turnstiles and into the aquarium itself. “Where do you want to go first?” 

“I don’t really care?” Zayn shrugged. “The penguins? That’s where you started right?” 

“Yeah! Let’s go!” And Zayn had seen Liam be quite enthusiastic about things over the past few months, but never like this. He’s radiating excitement; practically vibrating with how much he loves this. “I’m so excited to show you everything!” 

Liam dragged Zayn from exhibit to exhibit and his absolute joy with telling Zayn everything about every exhibit was probably the most endearing and wonderful thing that Zayn had ever seen. The last exhibit they went to was the turtles and Zayn’s heart almost melted as he reconciled the idea of a young Liam falling in love with his pet turtle with the Liam standing in front of him now, staring up as a turtle swims by with a beatific grin on his face. 

They went to dinner at a small pizza place just around the corner from Liam’s work. The host greeted Liam by name and asked him if this is “that wonderful boy he’s always going on about” and Liam went all red and said, “yeah, this is Zayn” and it was so cute that any part of Zayn that wasn’t ready to burst after seeing Liam in action at the aquarium is ready to burst now. The host led them to a table in the corner, not that privacy is really an issue in this restaurant, there was almost no one there. He placed menus down and left Zayn and Liam to it. 

“I come here quite a bit,” Liam confessed, still a bit red. “I guess I must have mentioned you in passing.” 

Zayn snorted at Liam as he shrugged out of his jacket and sat down. “Mentioned me in passing, sure, Li. Mentioned your wonderful boyfriend.” 

“Shut up,” Liam said, but he was chuckling just a bit. “You already know you’re wonderful.” 

“Not as wonderful as you,” Zayn responded. God, Liam’s turned him into a total sap. 

“You had flowers waiting for me at home the other day ‘just because,’” Liam pointed out. 

Zayn scoffed as he hid his blush behind his menu. “You said you were having a bad day at school so I bought you flowers because I thought they would cheer you up.” 

Zayn felt his menu being tugged down. He tilted it so he could meet Liam’s eyes, heart practically melting through his ribs when Liam smiled at him, soft and fond, and said, “They did cheer me up.”

“Uh, sorry to interrupt,” a voice said and Zayn forced himself to look away from Liam and up at their waitress. “Are you guys ready to order?” 

“I’ll just have my regular,” Liam said, not even glancing at his menu. 

Zayn skimmed over the menu before closing it and saying, “I’ll have whatever he’s having.” 

The waitress nodded and collected their menus, walking into the kitchen to put their orders in. 

“My regular is a plain cheese pizza with a coke,” Liam told Zayn, laughing. 

“You’re so boring, mate,” Zayn groaned at him. “And now you’re dragging me into your boring little pizza world.” 

“Not my fault you ordered the same thing as me without asking, now is it?” 

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Zayn pouted at Liam, knowing that it would make him laugh. 

Liam did throw his head back and laugh, which was exactly what Zayn had wanted. He loved making Liam laugh. Their waitress reappeared to drop off their cokes before retreating again. 

“I have something for you,” Zayn said when they’d both all but drained their drinks. 

“What? No, Zayn, I don’t have anything for you.” Liam scrunched up his forehead and Zayn knew that he was trying to figure out if this was some kind of anniversary or special occasion. 

“It’s not just from me,” Zayn admitted. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out the key Harry had given him this morning, placing it on the table in front of Liam. “The rest of the lads are in on it too. It’s a key to the flat.” 

Liam reached out to pick the key up, turning it over and over in his hand without saying anything. Zayn bit his lip, studying Liam’s face as they raced through emotions: surprised, confused, touched, happy, back to confused. 

Finally, Zayn had to break the silence. “It doesn’t have to mean anything you don’t want it to mean. We just thought it would be easier because you like, live at our flat basically and it’s dumb that you like, have to wait for one of us to be home before you can come over. The flat’s just as much your home as ours now.” 

Liam still didn’t answer, but instead reached across the table to fist his hand in Zayn’s shirt and pull in him for a sloppy kiss. 

Their waitress coughed, interrupting them and Zayn pulled back, flushing furiously. She was smiling when she placed their food on the table and Zayn would swear that she high fived Liam as she walked away from the table again. 

“Have you talked to Niall lately?” Liam asked as he bit into his pizza and then hissed because it was steaming hot. He did that every time they ate pizza no matter how many times Zayn tried to get him to just _fucking wait until it’s cool, Li, Jesus_. 

“I was texting him on the train over to meet you actually,” Zayn responded, blowing on his own pizza while he waited for it to be cool enough to eat. “Harry wants him to come home.” 

“That’s great!” Liam exclaimed, taking another bite of his pizza and wincing. Zayn rolled his eyes and handed over what was left of his soda to Liam, who drank it gratefully, having already finished his own drink. “Does this mean they’re working things out?” 

“I’m not sure.” Zayn shrugged. “Harry wants him around again but he says he still needs time, which I get, but like, I don’t want Niall to move back home if Haz’s just gonna freeze him out again, you know?” 

“That would be pretty awful,” Liam said thoughtfully, a smudge of pizza sauce on his chin. “I don’t think Harry would ask for him to come home if he didn’t want to at least try and work things out, though.” 

“Me either,” Zayn agreed. "It's just really hard, you know? Falling _in_ love while your best friends pretend they're falling out of it.” 

Liam dropped the slice of pizza he had in his hand, causing Zayn to look up sharply. When he saw the look on Liam’s face, he played back what he had just said and sucked in a breath. He’d been thinking about it for a while. He was falling in love with Liam. He was pretty much all the way in love with Liam, if he was being honest. Head over heels for the stupid bastard, despite the fact that he liked to wake Zayn up early on the weekends to “do things.” And not the fun things Zayn wanted to do on weekend mornings when they had nowhere to be and a room to themselves. 

“Are you…” Liam stopped. He cleared his throat and rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Are you falling in love with me?” 

“I’m pretty much already there,” Zayn admitted, fighting to keep his voice steady. He wasn’t going to apologize for his feelings, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous as hell to tell Liam how he felt. “In love with you, I mean.” 

Liam just nodded and waved down their waitress. “Can we get these as take away please?” 

She gave Liam a confused look, but said yes and took their nearly untouched food back into the kitchen to be wrapped up. 

“Liam?” Zayn was starting to feel proper nervous. Like maybe it was too early to be telling Liam he was in love with him and now Liam was having the waitress box up their food so that they could leave and Liam could get far away from Zayn and his feelings. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m having her bag up our food for us so I can take you back to our flat and make love to you,” Liam said simply, as if he were talking about the weather or what he had to do for homework that night. “I’ve been in love with you for _weeks_ , but I didn’t want to be the first to say it in case you didn’t feel the same way.” 

“Me too,” Zayn confessed hastily, shrugging his jacket on and digging out his wallet. He threw enough notes to cover their food and give their waitress a generous tip. He probably couldn’t actually afford to give her as big a tip as he was, but he didn’t care. She came back with their food just then and Liam practically snatched the bags out of her hand before he called out a goodbye, took Zayn by the wrist, and pulled him out to the street.

\----

The train had never taken so long to pull into the station in Zayn’s _life_. Fuck, Liam was just running his hand back and forth across Zayn’s lower back as they waited, fingers slipping under Zayn’s jacket and shirt every so often. It was driving Zayn mad. Not that he was any better, gripping Liam’s hip with a sweaty palm. The train finally pulled into the station. They boarded and Liam linked their fingers together, thumb rubbing rough circles onto the back of Zayn's hand. They nearly sprinted to the flat, shoulders knocking together and breath going short every time they touched. Zayn thought he was going to die from how much he wanted this, wanted Liam to take him apart completely.

No one was in the living room or kitchen, so they dropped their dinner in the fridge and made it to their room without incident or explanation. As soon as Zayn shut the door, though, it was like time went honey thick. Liam's gaze on him was more soft than fire, though there was still plenty of heat there. When Zayn stepped closer to him, Liam's touches were gentle, hands smoothing over Zayn's cheeks and down his sides as he peeled Zayn out of his jacket. Apparently, Liam was going to take the 'make love' sentiment to heart, not that Zayn was going to complain. Anything that made Liam keep looking at him like he wanted to absolutely ruin Zayn was good in Zayn's book. 

Liam leaned in then, drawing Zayn into a slow kiss that burned from the bottom of Zayn's ribs to the back of his throat. He had never wanted anyone or anything the way that he wanted Liam in this moment. And he didn't just want to have sex with Liam, he wanted Liam in every possible way there was to want somebody, and then maybe a few new ways that Zayn had invented. There was no part of Liam he did not want and there was no part if himself he did not want to expose and give to Liam. 

Zayn slid his tongue into Liam's mouth, tugging at the bottom of Liam's jumper at the same time. Liam leaned away from the kiss to pull his jumper and shirt over his head and this was familiar territory; this Zayn could work with. Zayn pulled his own shirt off quickly, ducking his head to mouth at Liam's collarbones and chest. He sucked one of Liam's nipples into his mouth, tracing a circle around it with his tongue, which pulled a long groan out of Liam that Zayn could feel vibrate through Liam's chest. 

He let his hands drop to rest on the waistband of Liam's trousers, asking for permission in a way. This time felt different, felt heavier, more important. They were going to be naked with each other in more ways than one and Zayn wanted to give Liam plenty of opportunities to back out if he wanted to. 

Liam seemed to get it, though that didn't really surprise Zayn. "Yeah, baby, yes," Liam said before his hands came down to tangle with Zayn's, both of them working to undo Liam's flies and zip and slide his trousers and pants down. Liam stepped out of them and nudged Zayn towards the bed. Zayn went willingly, sitting down on the edge and then lying back when Liam pressed against his shoulders. Liam's fingers were shaking as they worked at Zayn's belt and Zayn sat back up quickly, capturing Liam's hands in his own. 

"We don't have to..." Zayn trailed off. 

"No!" Liam protested emphatically. "I want to, god, I want to. I'm just... It's stupid to be nervous, right?" 

"Not stupid," Zayn assured him, pressing a kiss to the bridge of his nose. 

"It just feels different this time. Like this really means something. Which sounds awful, I don't mean that the people I've dated and slept with in the past meant nothing, just that this... You could be it for me, Zayn. I really think you're it for me." 

"Fuck, _Liam_ ," Zayn gasped out, tugging Liam in for a deep kiss. If he'd had any doubt that he was not totally and utterly in love with Liam, they were gone. Liam was it for Zayn, too. "I love you. I love you so much." 

Things heated up a bit after that, with Liam tugging Zayn's trousers and pants off, peeling off both of their socks before budging Zayn up on the bed and settling in between Zayn's thighs. He opened Zayn up using warm fingers and generous amounts of lube until Zayn was panting, nearly begging Liam for more. 

"You ready for me, love?" Liam murmured in Zayn's ear. 

"Please, Liam," was all Zayn could choke out. It was like his heart had run out of space to keep all his love for Liam and it was flooding over into his lungs, pressing against his rib cage, filling up his veins and every part of him. 

"Roll onto your side, angel," Liam instructed, voice soothing. Zayn did as he was told, Liam's hands guiding him, strong and sure against Zayn's back and chest. Liam settled in behind Zayn, spooning up against him, Liam's cock pushed up against Zayn's lower back. "Like this, yeah? Is this okay?" 

"Perfect, Li," Zayn told him, lacing his fingers with the ones Liam had splayed across his stomach. "You're so perfect." 

Liam huffed out a laugh, warm against the back of Zayn's neck. " _Sweetheart._ " 

With that, Liam slid a thigh between Zayn's legs, pressing himself even closer until the head of his cock caught teasingly at Zayn's rim. 

"Liam, please, please," Zayn's voice sounded shattered even to his own ears. 

"Alright, baby, shhh, shhh. I've got you." Liam pressed small, smoothing kisses against Zayn's neck and upper back, bringing Zayn back down a bit. "Let me know when you're ready, okay? Or if you want to stop." 

Zayn took a deep breath and tightened his hold on Liam's hand. "I'm ready." 

"I love you," Liam told him, nipping carefully at Zayn's earlobe, running his tongue over the small hoop there. Liam pressed in slowly then and Zayn guessed Liam was using the hand not tangled with his own to guide himself into Zayn. Zayn rocked his hips in slow circles, helping to work Liam even deeper into himself, until Liam's hips we're flush with Zayn's arse and they were both breathing heavy. "I need my hand, babe." Liam tugged his hand out of Zayn's grasp, despite Zayn's protests, and wrapped it around Zayn's cock instead, working Zayn back to full hardness. 

Zayn whimpered and pushed back onto Liam's cock, pushing Liam in deeper. 

"Yeah, beautiful, there you go," Liam praised breathlessly in Zayn's ear. Liam pushed himself up a bit and nosed at Zayn's cheek until Zayn got the hint and turned his head so they could crash their lips together as their hips ground down. 

Zayn curled into himself a bit so Liam was forced to press even closer, his chest pressed to Zayn's back, their knees bent together. Liam couldn't really fuck into Zayn at this angle, just small shallow thrusts that pushed Zayn closer and closer to the edge. All Zayn could feel was Liam, all he could smell was Liam, all he could taste was Liam's mouth against his own, all he could think about was Liam. He had never felt so encompassed by someone before. Zayn reached back to run his fingertips over Liam's cheek, gentle. Liam hummed and titled his cheek into Zayn's touch.

It didn't take long for either of them to come, Zayn coming first, wrapped up in this cocoon of warmth and love. Liam came soon after, hips driving into Zayn’s arse and breath catching sharply over Zayn’s name. They stayed curled up in each other; Zayn was shaking a bit from his orgasm. He’d had some pretty spectacular orgasms in his life - most of them having been provided by Liam - but this one had been different, better. It felt like all of him had had an orgasm. 

“I love you,” Zayn gasped as Liam pulled out carefully. Zayn rolled over so he could face Liam and kiss him, pressing his lips over and over again to Liam’s cheeks and forehead and lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you.” 

“I love you, too,” Liam said, capturing Zayn’s lower lip between his teeth and pulling Zayn in for a real, thorough kiss. 

“Li?” Zay interrupted their kissing a few minutes later. “I’m kind of hungry.” 

“I guess we did cut dinner a little short, yeah,” Liam said, rolling out of bed. “Why don’t we rinse off in the shower and then eat?” 

“Sounds good to me.” Zayn followed Liam’s lead, rolling to sit on the edge of the bed and then holding his hands out so Liam could pull him up and into the circle of his arms.

“Are you okay?” Liam asked, pulling Zayn closer to himself and running his hands up and down Zayn’s back. “I didn’t hurt you, right?” 

Zayn nipped at Liam’s collarbone, sucking some skin into his mouth before releasing it to answer. “No, babe, I’m fine. But next time I intend on having you fuck me until I can’t walk.” 

“I can do that.” Liam huffed out a laugh and released Zayn so they could both pull their pants on and cross the hallway to the bathroom. They laughed and kissed their way through a quick shower, with Liam sucking a good sized bruise just above the highest neckline of any of Zayn’s shirts that weren’t turtlenecks. 

“Fuck you, Liam,” Zayn hissed when they stepped out of the shower and Zayn saw his skin turning purple in the mirror. 

Liam threw his head back and laughed as he handed Zayn his towel before grabbing his own. “I can’t wait until Louis sees that. He’s gonna take the piss.” 

Zayn just gaped at Liam in the mirror. Liam giggled again, kissing the back of Zayn’s neck, before picking up their pants and heading back to Zayn’s room. 

“I can’t believe you!” Zayn told Liam as he followed him across the hall. He caught the clean pants that Liam threw at him. “Whose boyfriend are you, anyway?” 

Liam shrugged before stepping into a pair of clean pants of his own. “I’m not always sure with the four of you, really.”

“What?” Zayn teased, dropping his towel, but not putting his pants on as he crossed the room to wrap his arms around Liam’s waist and tilt his head up for a kiss. Liam obliged, smiling. “Do you _make love_ to the other three boys then?” 

“No,” Liam said, kissing Zayn again. “Just you.” 

Zayn grinned and rewarded Liam with a deep kiss, running his tongue just past the seam of Liam’s lips the way he knew Liam liked. Liam groaned and pulled Zayn closer. Zayn just pushed Liam away though, smiling at Liam’s noise of protest. “I really am hungry though, Li.” 

Liam rolled his eyes, but stuck out his tongue a bit so Zayn knew he was kidding. “Let’s eat then.” 

They both slid into jogging bottoms and Liam tugged on a shirt despite Zayn’s attempt to wrestle him back out of it. They headed out to the kitchen to find Harry and Louis there, cooking, laughing, and making tea. 

“Well, well,” Louis sing-songed when they walked in. “If it isn’t the lovebirds finally out of their nest. And, is that? Jesus, Liam.” 

Liam just smirked proudly while Louis examined the mark on Zayn’s neck. Zayn batted Louis away and glared at Liam. 

“Did Liam cure you of your fear of all sea creatures, then?” Harry teased from where he was dishing out a late night stir fry onto plates for himself and Louis. He hesitated for a second, then reached up into the cabinet by his shoulder and pulled out a third plate. He shuffled around the food so that all three plates had equal amounts. 

“Fuck off, Haz,” Zayn whined at him. 

“Oh, so you don’t want tea then?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows at Zayn even as he pulled mugs out of the cabinet. Zayn just smiled at Harry, who rolled his eyes and lined the mugs up on the counter. He waited until the kettle whistled before filling the mugs and preparing the tea how they all liked. Louis squinted at all three of them in betrayal as Harry added the sugar. “You’re such a tea snob, Lou.” 

“For good reason,” Louis stated haughtily. “Seeing as all you boys do is _ruin_ a good thing.” 

Harry, Liam, and Zayn rolled their eyes collectively. Harry handed Liam and Zayn their tea. Zayn set his on the counter to cool a bit and went to get his and Liam’s food out of the fridge to heat up while he waited. Harry handed Louis his mug and plate, receiving a smile and kick to the balls for his efforts. Harry picked up the fourth mug and set it beside one of the plates he’d made before picking up the third plate and the final mug and joining Louis in sitting on the counter on the other side of the kitchen from the hob. 

Niall came into the kitchen then. “Who’s cooking? Smells great!” 

“Harry made stir fry,” Liam explained, taking a seat at the table and sipping his tea. 

“Oh.” Niall’s face fell a bit and his eyes darted over to Harry for the briefest of looks before he focused them on the floor. 

“Your plate is by the stove.” Harry nodded, his eyes focused on his plate as he pushed his food around. 

Niall looked up quickly, eyes focusing on Harry instantly. “Really?” 

Harry cleared his throat and lifted his head to look at Niall. His eyes were a bit red, the way they always got right before Harry was about to cry or when he was trying very hard to keep from crying. “Beside your tea.” 

Niall reached out like he was going to touch Harry, but pulled his hand back immediately, like he’d been burned; like he’d suddenly remembered he’d lost the privilege to touch. “Thank you.” 

Harry just nodded and Louis’ hand came up to sit at the middle of Harry’s back. Niall went over to where his plate was sitting, digging a fork out of the drawer and taking a bite. He didn’t turn around and, from where he was still standing by the fridge, Zayn could see that Niall was fighting to hold it together. Taking deep breaths as he chewed. Niall swallowed and straightened just a bit. “It’s delicious, Harry. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Harry choked out. He gathered up his plate and tea and got down from the counter carefully. No one else in the kitchen moved a muscle. “I’m going to finish eating in Louis’ room and then head to bed. Goodnight guys, love you.” 

As soon as the door to Louis’ room closed behind Harry, the kitchen unfroze. Niall’s grip on the counter tightened as he hung his head and sobbed, tears falling fast down his cheeks. 

“We’ve got him,” Liam said to Zayn, nodding towards Louis. He took the food out of Zayn’s hands. “You go get Haz.” 

Zayn left the kitchen, knocking softly on Louis’ door before going in anyways. Harry was curled up in Louis’ bed, plate and mug on the bedside table, forgotten. Zayn climbed onto the bed and pulled Harry into him, Harry’s face pressed to his chest, Harry’s tears hot against Zayn’s skin. 

“Shhh,” Zayn soothed, fighting to hold it together himself. “It’s alright. You’re going to be alright.”

\----

Three weeks and four days after Niall and Harry broke up, they got back together.

“I’m worried about Harry,” Louis announced to Niall, Zayn, and Liam that evening. They were all sitting around the living room, Liam and Niall on their laptops doing schoolwork, Zayn and Louis camped out in front of the television playing video games. Harry was still at his last seminar for the day. He was due back any minute. 

“Why?” Zayn asked, cursing under his breath as Louis ran his car off the road. 

“He’s sick,” Niall said. He looked up at Louis, eyebrows furrowed. “Isn’t he?” 

Louis nodded. “He’s been coughing a lot and tossing and turning in bed. I think he had a fever when he left this morning, too. How did you know?” 

Niall shrugged. “He’s been using his sick voice. And he didn’t sing in the shower this morning. He always sings in the shower unless he’s sick or he’s sucking me off. Did you say something to him about it?”

“Yeah, course,” Louis answered, looking away from the screen and still somehow blowing Zayn’s car up. Fucking Louis. “But he just said he doesn’t have time to be sick because he has two papers due and a presentation to prepare and he’ll be sick when all of that is done.” 

Niall huffed. “This is what he does. He gets sick because he runs himself into the ground with his coursework and then he just keeps running himself down.” 

“I don’t know what to do, mate,” Louis admitted. “I’ve tried to reason with him, that he should just take some time off, but he won’t listen.” 

“He’s so stubborn,” Niall muttered under his breath before going back to his paper, determination set in his jaw, though Zayn didn’t know what he was determined about. Deadlines, maybe. 

Liam slid off the couch to the floor beside Zayn then. 

“Are you done with your work, then?” Zayn asked as he slammed into Louis’ car and threw him off the course. Zayn let out a whoop as he sped into first place. That was more fucking like it. 

“Yes,” Liam let his lips brush up against Zayn’s ear. He nuzzled his nose into Zayn’s throat. “And now I’m bored.” 

“Are you?” 

“Yes.” Liam sighed and tipped over backwards. “Entertain me.” 

Zayn glanced over at where Liam was lying, legs spread open and propped up on his elbows. Liam caught Zayn’s eyes and licked his lips. Zayn was pausing the game and climbing on top of Liam before Louis could even start protesting. Before Zayn could do anything more than line his hips up with Liam’s and press their chests together, the door opened and Harry came in, coughing into the arm of his jacket. 

“Right, then.” Niall closed his laptop and set it aside, standing up as Harry shrugged out of his jacket and scarf and toed off his boots. “Louis, could you make Haz some tea with honey? And Zayn, could you stop whatever it is you and Liam were about to do and get me the cold medicine from the bathroom? Li, could you please grab a cool flannel for me as well?” 

“What are you doing?” Harry asked, voice husky and nearly gone. He tossed his bag into the corner and turned to stare at Niall. 

“You’re sick,” Niall said as he crossed the room to stand in front of Harry. “And the only way you’re going to get better is if you rest. So you’re going to rest.” 

“You can’t tell me what to do…” 

“Well, you weren’t listening to Louis.” Niall stood his ground. “If you’re not going to take care of yourself, then I’ll just have to take care of you.” 

“That isn’t your job anymore.” Harry’s voice turned ice cold, but Niall didn’t seem fazed. 

“Yes, it is,” Niall argued. “Just because I’m not your boyfriend anymore doesn’t mean I stopped caring about you. I’m still your friend and I still love you and I won’t sit here and watch you do this to yourself.” 

“I don’t want you to help me,” Harry shot at him. “I don’t need your help. I can do it myself.” 

“But you don’t have to!” Niall exclaimed. “I’m right fucking here, Haz, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s the problem!” Harry cried out. “You’re not going anywhere and it’s my fault! I’m keeping you from doing something great. I’m holding you back.” 

“Harry.” Niall’s voice breaks over Harry’s name. “That’s not… I didn’t take the internship because _I_ didn’t want to go. I mean, it’d be cool to go to LA and everything, but it’s not where I want to spend two years or more of my life. It’s not something I want for myself when I can find something here. Closer to you and the boys and my family. Yes, you’re part of the reason I’m staying, but you’re the _best part of that reason_ , do you understand me, Harry? I kept it from you because I knew you would think it was your fault and it’s _not_.”

“I don’t want you to lie to me,” Harry said, coughing a bit. “Not even to protect me. I want you to tell me everything and always be honest with me.” 

“Do you want me to be honest with you right now?” Niall asked. 

“What did I just say?” Harry sounded a bit exasperated, but there was also a small smile tugging at his lips. Zayn felt a knot in his stomach come loose. Harry was smiling at Niall, fuck it felt like Zayn could breathe again. 

“Well, if I’m being honest,” Niall said. “It looks like you’re about to pass out. So please, please, Hazza, let me take care of you.” 

Harry hesitated, studying Niall like he was memorizing the way he looked in this moment. Harry bit his lip and nodded. 

Niall’s shoulders sagged and Zayn thought he and Liam would end up carrying both Harry _and_ Niall to their room. But Niall reached out and pulled Harry into a tight hug. “I missed you so much,” he said into Harry’s shoulder. 

“Me too, Niall,” Harry murmured back. “Me too.” 

“Don’t you ever break up with me again.” Niall threatened, but he was shaking. 

Harry wrapped his arms tighter around Niall and promised, “I won’t.” 

They let go after a few long moments and Niall wrapped an arm around Harry’s waist instead, guiding them into their bedroom. A minute later, Niall poked his head out and raised his eyebrows at Liam, Louis, and Zayn. “Didn’t I ask you guys to do something?”

The three of them scrambled up to grab what Niall had asked for, bringing it into their bedroom, to find Harry curled up under the covers, head resting against Niall’s chest as he shivered. Niall murmured soothing words to him, running his hand through Harry’s curls and, despite the fever and chills and everything else, Harry looked better than he had in weeks. Niall too. Zayn wanted to cheer, but also hug them both and make them promise to never do that to him or each other again. He knew Harry had already promised Niall but he wanted both of them to promise it to him, too. 

Zayn left the room last, closing the door on the quiet rumblings of Niall talking Harry to sleep. He turned around to find Liam hugging Louis, Louis fighting off tears. 

“Lou.” Zayn reached out to him when he stepped out of Liam’s arms. 

“I’m fine,” Louis said, but took Zayn’s hand anyways. “It’s just… I’m glad they’re not being idiots anymore.” 

Zayn let out a watery laugh. “Me too.”

\----

Three days after Harry and Niall got back together, they all sit around the table having dinner together. Niall was in Harry’s lap, laughing at some story about Louis’ day that Louis is reenacting for him. Harry was talking to Liam about some coffee shop he knows of that does an open mic twice a month that he thinks they should all go to. Zayn was holding Liam’s hand under the table and looking around at his friends when he thought: _home_.

“Pass the fucking garlic bread, you curly haired asshole.” Louis’ voice cut into Zayn’s thoughts, though the thought lingers, echoing in his head and heart. 

“Be nice,” Harry whined at Louis, even as he passed him the bread. 

Louis raised an eyebrow. “You lived in my room for like, a month and I was nothing but nice to you. I need to make up for lost time.” 

“Or,” Liam interjected, raising his eyebrows, “you could just be nice.” 

Louis put a hand over his heart and gave Liam a wounded look. “How very dare you. It’s like you don’t know me at all.” 

“You know,” Zayn interrupted before Liam could retort, “we really should get a fifth chair.” 

They all looked around the table, as if noticing for the first time that they really were one chair short. 

“Nah, it’s fine,” Niall said finally. He grinned down at Harry. “I quite like my chair.” 

“And your chair likes you back,” Harry answered, tilting up his face for a kiss, which Niall happily gave him. 

“Gross.” Louis threw a piece of garlic bread at them. “Stop that, some of us are trying to eat.” 

Niall and Harry pulled apart with a laugh and resumed eating their pizza. Liam had picked it up on his way home from work from the place where Zayn had told Liam he loved him. Their waitress from that night had sent along a note on the receipt that warned Zayn to be nice to her favorite customer and treat him right, or she’d tell every pizza place in the city to turn him away. Zayn wasn’t sure how empty her threat was. (He was pretty sure it was mostly empty, but he didn’t particularly want to find out.)

Liam tried to pull his hand away, then, presumably to eat his own slice of pizza, but Zayn held on tightly, not letting go. Liam looked at him, a bit confused, but his face relaxed into a smile when he saw the warm grin on Zayn’s face. He left his hand where it was. 

Zayn looked around at where Niall was now talking to Liam about guitars and Louis was carding a hand through Harry’s curls, even as Harry complained about grease on Louis’ hand from the pizza and pulled away, and the echo grew louder again until the word was repeating with every thump of Zayn’s heart. 

_Home._

\----

The bell over the door tinkled and Louis’ whole face lit up. Zayn resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Sometimes he thought Louis was more excited to see Liam than he was.

“Liam!” Louis yelled. “Come and see my new tattoo! I skipped class today to get it.” 

“Stop skipping class,” Zayn told him. “You’re gonna fail, Louis, and I’m gonna have to be the one to tell your mum and then she’ll hate me.” 

“My mum could never hate you and you know it,” Louis replied primly. 

Liam came over then, and hopped up onto Zayn’s counter. “Hi, Zayn. You alright?” 

“Fine, Li. You?” 

In lieu of answering, Liam leaned in and kissed Zayn. Zayn could taste his smile on his tongue though, so he knew that Liam’s day had gone well. They only pulled apart when Niall appeared from the shelves to throw himself at Liam in greeting. 

“Heyyyy,” Harry whined from his register. “Come over here.” 

Niall climbed off of Liam and made his way over to Harry, pressing small kisses against Harry’s lips before hopping up on his counter to sit beside Louis. 

Liam reached behind himself on Zayn’s counter to grab a package of peanut butter cups off the shelf. He handed them to Zayn with a beaming grin on his face, like he didn’t do this every single day now. Zayn rolled his eyes, but returned Liam’s smile as he rang up the peanut butter cups, putting the money for them into the till out of his own wallet. 

“I hate when you do that,” Liam said as he took the peanut butter cups back and ripped them open. 

“I like spoiling my boyfriend,” Zayn answered, taking the peanut butter cup that Liam offered him. 

“Hey, Zayn!” Harry called out and Zayn could tell by his tone that whatever Harry said next was _not_ going to be funny. “If you keep buying Liam candy, you’re going to become his _sugar daddy_.” 

Louis reached over and punched Harry in the arm while the rest of them groaned and complained. Harry didn’t seem at all bothered by it, grinning at them like he thought they all thought it was secretly funny or something. 

“To dumb friends,” Zayn raised his peanut butter cup to Liam. 

“And to the idiots that live with them,” Liam added, bring his own peanut butter cup up to knock against Zayn’s. 

They smiled at each other and ate their peanut butter cups (Liam biting his in half), before turning back to listen as Niall told them about his day and his professor from hell. Without taking their eyes off of Niall, Zayn and Liam’s hands found each other, fingers intertwining.


End file.
